Iran reopens border crossings with Iraqi Kurdish region

The KRG has handed control of all of the Kurdish region of northern Iraq’s border crossings with Turkey and Iran over to Baghdad. Border terminals were shut in mid-October after Kurdish Regional Government's ill-fated referendum on independence.

Haj Omran border is seen, on the border between Iran and the Kurdish region of northern Iraq.
Reuters

Haj Omran border is seen, on the border between Iran and the Kurdish region of northern Iraq.

Iran on Tuesday reopened three of its border crossings with northern Iraq’s semi-autonomous Kurdish region, at Baghdad’s request, after some two and a half months of closure, according to a local customs official.

“The Parwezkhan, Haji Omaran and Sayran Ban crossings have all been reopened to human and commercial traffic,” Masud Bateli, director of the Iraqi side of the Haji Omaran crossing, told reporters.

According to Bateli, operations at the three crossings have now fully resumed.

Iran closed the three border terminals last October at the request of the Iraqi government after tensions erupted between Baghdad and the Erbil-based Kurdish Regional Government (KRG) following an illegitimate referendum held by the latter on regional independence.

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Iran maintains a total of four border crossings with the Kurdish region of northern Iraq: the Haji Omaran crossing in Iraq’s Erbil province, and the Parwezkhan, Bashmaq and Sayran Ban crossings in Sulaymaniyah province.

On Monday, Ihsan al Shamri, an adviser to Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al Abadi, announced that the KRG had handed control of all the semi-autonomous Kurdish region’s border crossings with Turkey and Iran over to Iraqi federal authorities.

The KRG’s illegitimate September 25 referendum had faced stiff opposition from most regional and international actors, including the US, Turkey and Iran, who had warned it would destabilise the already volatile region.

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