Hoping against the odds: Israel-Iran war puts Pakistani zaireen in a tough spot

Syed Baqir Ali Jafferi, 61, waited a decade. He had decided that 2025 would be the year he would do it; his younger brother’s sudden demise had further compelled him. His visa had arrived, and the bookings were complete. But then Israel attacked Iran.

Jafferi, a resident of Karachi, like many others, was to embark on a pilgrimage to Iraq in Muharram, beginning June 27. The journey holds a deep spiritual place in the hearts of Shias across the world. In fact, Karbala hosts the largest gathering in the world on Ashura (Muharram 10) and Arbaeen (Safar 20).

From Pakistan, a majority of pilgrims take the land route to Karbala via Iran, which is also home to key Shia religious sites in Mashhad and Qom. Others take the plane. Jafferi was among the latter.

“All of his preparations were complete and only the tickets were to be booked, which he had planned to do on the first day of Muharram,” his niece told Dawn.com. “He was seeing this as his final trip because he can’t travel a lot due to old age.”

Unfortunately, Jafferi couldn’t get his tickets. Last week, major airlines suspended flight operations to Iran, Iraq and Syria either indefinitely or until the end of June.

Airlines that have suspended flights to the Middle East:

• Fly Dubai suspended flights to Iraq and Iran until June 20
• Emirates has also suspended flights to Iraq (Basra and Baghdad) and Iran (Tehran) until June 30
• Qatar Airways suspended operations to Iran, Iraq, and Syria until further notice. Flights to Iran’s Tehran, Mashhad, and Shiraz have been halted, as well as to Iraq’s Baghdad, Basra, Erbil, Sulaymaniyah, and Najaf, and Syria’s Damascus

The development came after Israel launched a wide-scale attack on Iran’s nuclear facilities, military sites and civilian infrastructure, killing top commanders, scientists, and civilians. It claimed the strikes are part of a broader operation to deter Tehran’s nuclear ambitions, which the latter has consistently denied. A day later, Iran responded with hundreds of ballistic missiles in what it said was the “beginning of a crushing response to the Zionist regime”.

The two countries have since continued to target each other, with the war now entering its seventh day. While Iran and Israel remain at odds, pilgrims in Pakistan find themselves in an uncertain position, their hopes of visiting the holy land hanging by a thread.

Fear, confusion, uncertainty

Raza Zaidi had planned to celebrate Eid al-Ghadeer, a Shia religious event, in Najaf along with his mother and aunt. If all had been well, he would have been in Iraq by Saturday on his maiden trip. All arrangement — payments, visas and hotel bookings — had been finalised.

“But on Friday afternoon, I found out that FlyDubai, our carrier, had cancelled all flights operating within the airspace of Iran, Iraq, Syria, Jordan and Israel,” he said. “My mother and aunt are very disheartened because Eid al-Ghadeer was the only event they hadn’t celebrated in Karbala and were really looking forward to it.”

Currently, Raza continued, everything is hanging in the air. But despite the atmosphere of fear and uncertainty, he hasn’t yet sought a refund from the tour company he was travelling with. “We want to go as soon as possible if the flights are operational.

“We draw a lot of spiritual motivation from Karbala and Najaf. If the airspace had not closed, we would have been there despite the war,” he added.

While Raza’s travel plans directly clashed with the war, the current situation has also put the travel itineraries of those wanting to spend Muharram in Iraq in limbo, particularly those travelling via road, as Pakistan had earlier announced the closure of its border with Iran.

In a post on X on Wednesday night, however, the Foreign Office said: “This [is] to clarify that contrary to some media reports, all border crossings along the Pakistan-Iran border remain fully operational.”

For those travelling via road, the threat is higher because they have to make at least a two-night stop in Iran to get to Iraq, explained Moosa Raza, director of Al Haramain Travel Agency. He added that his company had received a record number of Ziarat bookings this year from across the country, for both the land and air routes. “All of them are now hanging in the middle … confused and scared.”

Fatima Sohail, a teacher based in Karachi, had been planning her trip to Iraq for over a year now. With Muharram falling during summer holidays, it was easier for her to take 10-12 days off from work.

“I visited Karbala some years ago, and it was such a fulfilling experience … I had decided then to come back. This time, I wanted to spend the first 10 days of Muharram there,” she said. Belonging to the Bohra community, Fatima’s trip was organised by Fayz-e-Husayni, a service established to cater travel needs of the community members performing Hajj, Umrah or Ziarat.

But she recently received a message from them regarding the current situation, stating that the Iraqi government had advised against travel to the country until further notice. “So we are waiting now because the airspace is shut, but chances are that the trip will get cancelled,” she sighed.

While Fatima acknowledged that there was uncertainty and the circumstances were not under anyone’s control, a flicker of hope is still alive in her. “If it is written, it will happen no matter what,” she said.

Dara Baig, also based in Karachi, who was set to fly to Iraq between the third and fourth of Muharram, concurred. Under the current scenario, he is sceptical if the trip would materialise.

“We don’t care about the war … if the airspace opens, we will be the first ones to reach the airport,” he told Dawn.com. “This is the essence of Ziarat — even when there is a fear of life, don’t quit.”

The evacuations

Both Baig and Raza also said that their relatives, who were in Iraq for the commemoration of Youm-i-Arafah, were stuck since the war broke out.

Mustafa*, who travelled to Iraq for the event, was among those who are stuck in Karbala and Najaf. He was to fly out on June 13, the same day the Israel-Iran war broke out. “But our flights were cancelled and the airspace was subsequently closed,” he said.

Unlike most who make the trip through tour operators, he managed the trip all by himself, and so he had cash to sustain himself for some days. “But people who have come along with tour groups are rapidly running low on cash … even the companies’ budgets are running out,” Mustafa told Dawn.com over the phone.

He further said that recently, Baghdad’s national flag carrier, Iraq Airways, had begun running emergency flights to Pakistan, but from Basra Airport, which is a seven-hour drive from Najaf and Karbala, where most pilgrims were staying. “On top of that, as per Iraqi policy, Pakistanis have to submit their passports at the airport upon arrival, which are later returned at the time of departure.

“We are in touch with the embassy for the issuance of passports, but it hasn’t been of much help so far,” he lamented.

Mustafa warned that further delay in evacuating the pilgrims could worsen the situation. “People are running out of medicines, food and don’t have money for accommodation. The government needs to immediately act.”

According to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, approximately 5,000 zaireen [pilgrims] from Pakistan are currently stranded in Iran and Iraq. In a statement on June 16, it said Iraqi Airways was operating daily flights on the Basra–Dubai route. “Those interested in travelling via this route are encouraged to contact the nearest Iraqi Airways office for booking and assistance.”

It said that the Pakistani embassy was assisting with the evacuations and was in touch with Iraqi authorities. Separately, it advised others to reconsider their travel plans to Tehran and Baghdad. In the past few days, over 1,000 pilgrims and students have returned from Iraq and Iran via the Taftan border.

Separately, on Tuesday, the Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) operated its first relief flight to bring back pilgrims stuck in Iraq. PIA spokesperson Abdullah Khan told Dawn.com that the plane flew from Peshawar and boarded zaireen in Ashgabat, Turkmenistan. They were brought there from Iran and Iraq via road.

“We cannot run any flights to Iran, Iraq, Israel, Syria or Jordan as the entire region has been declared a war zone,” he said.

Khan said that Tuesday’s flight brought back more than 150 passengers, whose list was provided to the carrier by the Pakistani embassy — also known as the ‘manifest’ document. He added that the PIA was in close contact with the MOFA regarding the evacuations.

Journey back home

Muhammad Ali Raza was among the 1,000 pilgrims and students who returned to Pakistan via the Taftan border earlier this week. He had been in Tehran since 2019, where he was completing a PhD in economics. When Israel attacked Iran on Friday, he was at his hostel, where he heard bombs that seemed to have fallen right outside his window.

“The bombardment continued from 9pm to 5am.”

Ali described the next few days, after Iran launched its response, as the most traumatic of his life, recalling how his professors and colleagues were injured in the Israeli strikes. “Initially, we thought the matter would diffuse but by Monday, it was clear that a full-fledged war had broken out,” he told Dawn.com.

That is when he and his friends decided to reach out to the Pakistani embassy in Tehran. “We got a positive response, and on Sunday (June 15), I left for Taftan in a bus arranged by them … ironically, that was also the day I was the most scared for my life because Israel targeted public places, hostels and parks.

“We just had a 1.5-hour window to leave because after that, there was not a single road that hadn’t caved in due to strikes.”

For the next 24 hours, Ali was on the road, en route Zahedan, from where he would cross the Pakistani border. “We reached Taftan on Tuesday, where the border authorities provided us with chicken biryani for lunch along with tea,” he said.

“We will now move to our homes in Punjab from here,” the PhD student added.

Ali further stated that most of his Pakistani classmates had been evacuated from Tehran, adding that while they were happy to be back to the safety of home, they were waiting for the war to come to an end so that they could go back to what they call their second home.

Header image: Pakistani pilgrims evacuated from Iran gather upon their arrival at the Pakistan-Iran border at Taftan, in Balochistan on June 18, 2025, amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and Iran. — AFP