Arbaeen Pilgrims Hoist Largest Red Banner in Karbala for Khamenei Retribution as 22 Million Gather
Updated
Updated · Tehran Times · Aug 5
Arbaeen Pilgrims Hoist Largest Red Banner in Karbala for Khamenei Retribution as 22 Million Gather
3 articles · Updated · Tehran Times · Aug 5
Summary
A giant red vengeance banner inscribed "Ya Latharat al-Hussein" was raised over Karbala's Bayn al-Haramayn during Arbaeen, explicitly dedicated to Ayatollah Ali Khamenei after his assassination.
Up to 22 million pilgrims were expected in Karbala, with Iraqi officials saying 4.88 million foreign visitors from 172 nations had entered Iraq by Monday night for the annual Shiite commemoration.
The display turned the 76-kilometer Najaf-Karbala route into a political show of force, with pilgrims carrying matching red flags and Iraqi and Iranian symbols in what participants described as a message of unity.
Kataib Hezbollah used the pilgrimage to reject U.S. pressure to disarm Iraqi militias, vowing to keep the "weapons of the Resistance" as regional tensions with Washington and Israel remain high.
Parallel marches widened the message beyond Iraq, including a 15-kilometer procession in Tehran and a 45,000-person Arbaeen march in Dearborn, Michigan.