Iraqi Mandaeans pray during a ritual on the banks of the Tigris River in Baghdad on March 15, 2021. Mandaeans traditionally speak a variety of Aramaic, the language of Christ. They call Adam their prophet and revere John the Baptist – “saba” is Aramaic for baptise, “manda” means knowledge. They trace their roots to pre-Christian times and some scholars believe the sect was a heretical branch of Judaism that spread south through the land of the two rivers, or Mesopotamia, in the second century AD (Photo by Ahmad Al-Rubaye/AFP Photo)





Followers of the Sabean Mandaeans, a pre-Christian sect that follows the teachings of John the Baptist, perform their rituals in the Tigris river during a celebration marking “Banja” or Creation Feast in central Baghdad, Iraq, Monday, March 15, 2021. Iraqi Sabaean Mandeans view the Bible's John the Baptist as savior and submerge themselves in the Tigris in an annual five-day ritual. (Photo by Hadi Mizban/AP Photo)





A man visits the al-Malwiya minaret at the Al-Mutawakkil Mosque in Samarra, Iraq, Friday, March 19, 2021. (Photo by Hadi Mizban/AP Photo)





A masked demonstrator holds a flaming tire during clashes between anti-government protesters in Iraq's central holy shrine city of Najaf on March 15, 2021. (Photo by Ali Najafi/AFP Photo)





Shiite worshippers carry a symbolic coffin at the golden-domed shrine of Imam Moussa al-Kadhim, who died at the end of the 8th century, during the annual commemoration of his death, in Baghdad, Iraq, Wednesday, March 10, 2021. (Photo by Hadi Mizban/AP Photo)





Shiite pilgrims cover themselves with mud as a sign of grief at the golden-domed shrine of Imam Moussa al-Kadhim, who died at the end of the 8th century, during the annual commemoration of his death, in Baghdad, Iraq, Wednesday, March 10, 2021. (Photo by Hadi Mizban/AP Photo)





Abu Jakka Farhan, a truffle hunter, is pushed in a wheelchair as he searches for truffles in the desert in Samawa, Iraq, February 23, 2021. (Photo by Alaa Al-Marjani/Reuters)





A view of Akra during the celebrations of Nowruz Day, a festival marking the first day of spring and the new year, in Iraqi Kurdistan, Iraq on March 20, 2021. (Photo by Ari Jalal/Reuters)





Iraqi Kurdish people carry fire torches, as they celebrate Nowruz Day, a festival marking the first day of spring and the new year, in the town of Akra near Duhok, in Iraqi Kurdistan, Iraq on March 20, 2021. (Photo by Ari Jalal/Reuters)





Fireworks explode during a celebration of Nowruz Day, a festival marking the first day of spring and the new year, in the town of Akra near Duhok, in Iraqi Kurdistan, Iraq on March 20, 2021. (Photo by Ari Jalal/Reuters)





Iraqi Kurdish people carry fire torches, as they celebrate Nowruz Day, a festival marking the first day of spring and the new year, in the town of Akra near Duhok, in Iraqi Kurdistan, Iraq on March 20, 2021. (Photo by Ari Jalal/Reuters)





Iraqi Kurds carry lit torches up Kali mountain to celebrate Nowruz, the Persian new year, on March 20, 2021 in Akre, Iraq. The Persian New Year is an ancient Zoroastrian tradition celebrated by Iranians and Kurds which coincides with the vernal (spring) equinox and is calculated by the solar calendar. (Photo by Sam Tarling/Getty Images)





Worshippers attend a Palm Sunday mass, amid the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak, in a church in Baghdad, Iraq, March 28, 2021. (Photo by Teba Sadiq/Reuters)





Children attend with Pope Francis a meeting with the Qaraqosh Christian community at the Church of the Immaculate Conception, in Qaraqosh, Iraq, Sunday, March 7, 2021, The small Christian community returned to Qaraqosh after the war where they rebuilt their church that was used as a firing range by IS. (Photo by Andrew Medichini/AP Photo)





Faithful wait for Pope Francis to arrive at a meeting with the Qaraqosh community at the Church of the Immaculate Conception, in Qaraqosh, Iraq, Sunday, March 7, 2021. (Photo by Andrew Medichini/AP Photo)





People wait for Pope Francis to celebrate mass at the Franso Hariri Stadium in Irbil, Kurdistan Region of Iraq, Sunday, March 7, 2021. The Vatican and the pope have frequently insisted on the need to preserve Iraq's ancient Christian communities and create the security, economic and social conditions for those who have left to return. (Photo by Andrew Medichini/AP Photo)





This picture taken on March 28, 2021 shows a view of the rising full “Worm Moon” above Basra International Stadium in the southern Iraqi city. (Photo by Hussein Faleh/AFP Photo)





An Iraqi youth shows-off his balancing skills as he performs stunts on a motorbike, on the bank of the Shatt Al-Arab river at sunset, in the southern Iraqi city of Basra, on March 17, 2021. (Photo by Hussein Faleh/AFP Photo)