Pilgrimage by Iranians to the holy shrines in Iraq, which was under Ottoman rule, has always been accompanied by challenges. During the Qajar period, despite the relative improvement of political relations between the two governments, pilgrims continued to visit the shrines, but the spread of infectious diseases necessitated the establishment of border quarantines by the Ottomans, which in some cases caused the Iranian pilgrims to feel better.

The present study, using a qualitative descriptive-analytical method and utilizing library documents and resources and documents from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, examines the experience of quarantine and its consequences from the perspective of Iranian pilgrims to the shrines during the Qajar period.The findings of the research, which are based on the analysis of the narratives left behind by these pilgrims, show that quarantine, contrary to its original purpose, which was to preserve public health and safety, in practice became a scene for the exercise of various tastes and abuses. The lack of codified and efficient laws and the arbitrary behavior of quarantine officers (quarantine guards) on both sides of the border created an experience of annoyance, humiliation, and difficulty for the pilgrims. These consequences were not only financial and economic, but also had political and military dimensions and affected the way Iranian pilgrims interacted with and viewed the governments of the time.