ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has asked authorities to make special flight arrangements to facilitate Pakistani pilgrims’ travel to Iran and Iraq, Pakistani state media reported on Sunday.

The development came hours after Pakistan suspended road travel to Iran and Iraq for the Arbaeen pilgrimage this year, citing public safety and national security concerns.

Thousands of Pakistanis travel to Iran and Iraq annually to visit religious sites, including observing Arbaeen (Arabic for “forty”), a significant religious occasion in Shia Islam that marks the end of a 40-day mourning period for Imam Hussain, who was “martyred” in the Battle of Karbala in 680 AD.

On Sunday, Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi met with PM Sharif and briefed him regarding the new policy for Pakistani Shia pilgrims’ travel to Iran and Iraq, the Associated Press of Pakistan (APP) news agency reported.

“The prime minister directed the Minister for Aviation to arrange special flights for the zaireen (pilgrims),” the report read.

Pakistanis traveling to Iran and Iraq via road have often been targeted in sectarian attacks by armed groups in Pakistan’s restive Balochistan province, which shares border with Iran.

Islamabad’s decision to restrict road travel came in the wake of a rise in militant attacks in the province by ethnic Baloch militant groups who demand a greater share of the province’s mineral resources from Islamabad.

“After extensive consultations with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Balochistan Government, and security agencies, it has been decided that zaireen will not be allowed to travel to Iraq and Iran by road for Arbaeen this year,” Naqvi wrote on X.

The Pakistani government is also introducing a new, centralized system for organizing pilgrimages to holy sites in Iran and Iraq that would require interested parties to register as tour operators, the Pakistani religious affairs minister announced this month.

The statement followed an announcement by Naqvi that Pakistani pilgrims would not be able to individually travel for religious pilgrimages from Jan. 1 next year. The decision was made after Iran, Iraq and Syria raised concerns with Islamabad about some of these Pakistani pilgrims overstaying their visas or working illegally in the host countries.

Pakistan previously had no formal structure for people to travel to Iran and Iraq for religious purposes. Although a system was approved in 2021 to organize these pilgrimages, but little progress was made on its implementation.