No Bomb Blast Near Imam Ali (AS) Holy Shrine
Mohsen Nezafati, director general of the Atabat (Iraqi holy sites) department of the organization, said there has been no explosion or widespread fire in the holy city.
He said there was only a minor fire caused by a mal-functioning air conditioning in one of the city’s hotels.
The incident caused no casualties, he stated, adding that there were only minor injuries among some Iranian pilgrims at the hotel.
Some media reports on Monday claimed that a bomb had exploded in the city.
According to Nezafati, sending Iranian pilgrims to the holy sites in Iraq began on March 11 and some 5000 pilgrims have left the country for Iraq every day since.
Every year, millions of Iranians go on pilgrimage to Iraq’s holy sites, including those in the cities of Najaf and Karbala.
As Iran is celebrating holidays marking Nowruz (the New Year on the Persian calendar), many use the opportunity to go on trips, including pilgrimage trips to the holy city of Mashhad, northeast of Iran, or the holy sites in neighboring Iraq.
