Srinagar, July 15 -- We arrived in Iran on the 3rd of June, 2025, as a group of 91 people of all ages. The oldest among us was my 83-year-old mother, still recuperating from a hip replacement surgery, and the youngest was three-year-old Sakina. This was a pilgrimage to two of the most sacred shrines for Shia Muslims in Iran-one in Mashhad and the other in Qom. The former is the shrine of Imam Raza, the 8th Imam of Shia Muslims, and the latter is that of his beloved sister Fatima, revered as Lady Qom.

Our return was scheduled for the 13th of June from Tehran Airport. On the intervening night between the 12th and 13th, I had almost finished segregating the luggage in preparation for an early morning departure to the airport. We were stayin...