TEHRAN, April 4 (Xinhuanet) -- Iraqi Interior Minister Nuri Badran arrived in Tehran Saturday night for a four-day visit to discuss issues such as border security and dispatch of Iranian pilgrims to holy sites in Iraq, the official IRNA news agency reported on Sunday.

    Border security issue between the two neighboring countries has become more prominent after the collapse of Saddam Hussein's regime.

    The two countries have about 1,500 km of common borders, which Tehran announced as closed following deadly bombings in Baghdad andKarbala in early March, in which 171 people were killed.

    US officials in Iraq accused Tehran of doing not enough to prevent insurgents from allegedly crossing into Iraq from Iran. ButIran rejected the accusation, saying the US-led occupation forces failed to properly police the common borders.

    Tehran is also trying to regularize the Iranian pilgrims to Shiite sites in Iraq in the face of widespread illegal trips.

    IRNA quoted an Iraqi police source as saying on Saturday that 15Iranian pilgrims were being held in police custody in the holy cityof Karbala on charge of illegal entry.

    Iran, which has a dominant Shiite Muslim population, took actionfollowing the Ashura bombings and closed all its border crossing points with Iraq, except for Manzariyah, Zorbatiyah and Shalamchah.Enditem