A pilgrimage to Iran
Boston.com
About 750,000 Iraqis have traveled to neighboring Iran since Saddam Hussein fell four years ago. Most start with a visit to a beloved shrine in Qom, a hub of religious study in central Iran. When they’re not praying, the pilgrims enjoy themselves shopping in the bazaar near the shrine, which has attracted a brisk trade from pilgrims for generations. This 10-year-old girl and her mother, shopping for fake gold jewelry, came from Hillah, an Iraqi city that’s on a dangerous fault line between Sunni and Shi’ite territory.
About 750,000 Iraqis have traveled to neighboring Iran since Saddam Hussein fell four years ago. Most start with a visit to a beloved shrine in Qom, a hub of religious study in central Iran. When they’re not praying, the pilgrims enjoy themselves shopping in the bazaar near the shrine, which has attracted a brisk trade from pilgrims for generations. This 10-year-old girl and her mother, shopping for fake gold jewelry, came from Hillah, an Iraqi city that’s on a dangerous fault line between Sunni and Shi’ite territory.
(Zohreh Soleimani for The Boston Globe)