Gholam Reza Najjar, the first deputy of the Embassy of the Islamic Republic of Iran in Kabul, in an interview, while announcing the readiness of the embassy and all the political representations of this country in Afghanistan to issue free double-entry visas to Afghan pilgrims, the conditions for issuing this visa are to have an Iraqi visa and guarantee the pilgrims' return to Afghanistan.

Afghan Voice Agency (AVA) - Kabul: The first deputy of the Embassy of the Islamic Republic of Iran in Kabul said in an interview with Iraf that this year too, free visas will be issued to Arbaeen Hosseini pilgrims through tourist and pilgrimage companies.

Mr. Najjar added that the main prerequisite for applying for and receiving a free double-entry visa for the Islamic Republic of Iran by Afghan pilgrimage caravans is to obtain a visa to enter Iraq from the political and consular representatives of this country and then submit a complete manifesto of the pilgrims.

He further emphasized that it is possible to get a double-entry visa through Iran's land borders only through companies, and it is not possible to issue an individual visa for land entry. Mr. Najjar, however, added that for pilgrims who wish to travel by air, it is possible to issue a free Iran visa individually, and if the pilgrims who go to the shrines by air have a stopover in Iran, the visa will be issued as a double entry. 

This official of the Embassy of the Islamic Republic of Iran has also said about guaranteeing the return of Afghan Arbaeen pilgrims that the tourist and pilgrimage companies that have submitted the complete list of permitted pilgrims to receive visas, after returning from Iraq, are required to have passports containing the entry and exit stamps of three countries. Based on the initial list of pilgrims, they should present it to the political and consular offices of the Islamic Republic of Iran in Afghanistan, so that it is clear that all the people who received Arbaeen visas have returned to Afghanistan after visiting the shrines.

He stated that in case of violation of this rule, the license of the offending tourist company to receive Arbaeen visa in the next year will be revoked.

The first deputy of the Iranian embassy in Kabul, in response to the question that if tourist and pilgrimage companies were able to receive Iraqi visas after the period from 1 to 17 Safar, what are the measures and measures of the Islamic Republic of Iran, said that last year there were problems in this as well. The ground has been created and Iran expects that with the cooperation of the Iraqi Ministry of Interior and the redoubled efforts of Afghanistan's tourism and pilgrimage companies, we will not witness a repeat of this issue this year. 

He also stated that currently, the official time frame for applying for an Iranian visa is from 1 to 17 September, and regarding the extension of this deadline due to the volume of demand or the late presentation of the manifest of the pilgrims who received the Iraqi visa later, the consular department The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of this country will make a decision in Tehran.

Mr. Najjar has also said about the media reports and rumors about the possibility of problems at the borders of Afghanistan for the departure of pilgrimage caravans, that no official instructions have been issued by the caretaker government of Afghanistan in this regard and the Embassy of the Republic of Iran in Kabul is not able to confirm the deliberate obstruction of the pilgrims' journey. Arbaeen is not within the borders of Afghanistan.

He emphasized that last year the acting government of Afghanistan made a good cooperation in this field and facilitated the collective travel of pilgrimage caravans.

It should be mentioned that a few days ago, the authorities of the Islamic Republic of Iran announced that the entry and exit of national pilgrims will take place from the Chazaba border of this country, according to the agreement made with the Iraqi authorities.