According to Mohammad Hossein Ostad Agha, “An Arbaeen headquarters has been set up in the shrine this year, like previous years, as urged by the custodian of the shrine. Razavi Volunteers and Public Services Center is, therefore, in full swing to stage an epical endeavor in the provision of services to pilgrims who are making the big march to Imam Hussain shrine in Karbala, Iraq”.

The services of Keramat Razavi Foundation have been provided on two fronts – one is supporting the pilgrims stations inside the country, and the other is backing up the public stations set up in Iraq to provide services to Arbaeen pilgrims.

“On the first front, 35 services stations (Mu’kibs) have been established on 9 border crossings such as Shalamcheh, Chazzabeh, Mehran, Mir Javeh, etc”, explained Ostad Agha.

In addition to providing services to Iranian pilgrims, Imam Reza shrine also provides services to foreign pilgrims, from Afghanistan, Pakistan and Azerbaijan, who have chosen to pass through Iran to reach Iraq.

Saying that Mehran border crossing, in the western Iranian province of Ilam, is the central point for pilgrims services, Ostad Agha added: “Given the importance of this crossing, Imam Reza shrine has decided to facilitate pilgrimage there by setting up four stations to provide food and accommodation”.

Imam Reza servants from Iranian provinces of Tehran, Mazandaran, Alborz, Khorasan Razavi, etc. are voluntarily serving pilgrims in these stations.

The central kitchen established by the shrine in western Mehran County is working round the clock to cook 700 thousand meals for the pilgrims. “Some one million breakfast packages, and two million bottled water have also been distributed among the pilgrims in these four stations”, noted the CEO of Keramat Razavi Foundation.