Iraq’s Foreign Minister Fuad Hussein said the US Treasury has asked Baghdad to close all of its border crossings with Iran except two. The request is part of Washington’s effort to increase economic pressure on Tehran.
Hussein said closing every crossing would be hard to carry out and would hurt Iraq’s economy. He pointed to the large number of official and unofficial crossings along the frontier.
Talks with Washington continue
Hussein said the American side is still pressing for the closures. He added that Iraq is currently in discussions with the US on the matter.
He made the remarks in an interview with Al Jazeera published on 8 November. The interview’s exact date was not stated.
Sheeb crossing shut for review
Last month Iraq closed the busy Sheeb border crossing with Iran. The stated aim was to review security and install detection equipment to stop smuggling.
One of the two exceptions the US has proposed lies in the Kurdistan region.
Source: US Treasury
