Iran to open border crossings with Kurdistan Region this week: Ministry of Interior

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region (Kurdistan 24) – Iran’s Interior Minister on Sunday said his government had decided it would reopen its border crossings with the Kurdistan Region this week.

During a meeting with the Iranian Trade Chamber, Interior Minister Rahmani Fadhli said the country’s border crossings with the Region would likely reopen “either today or tomorrow [Monday].”

On Oct. 18, at the request of the Iraqi government, Iran closed all its border gates with Kurdistan in retaliation for the Region’s historic Sep. 25 independence referendum.

Iranian authorities decided to reopen the Bashmakh border crossing the following week after the Kurdistan Regional Government’s (KRG) offer to freeze the results of the referendum in a step toward resolving its disputes with Baghdad through dialogue.

However, some reports suggested that the reopened border gate was used to smuggle crude oil to Iran from the disputed oil-rich city of Kirkuk following its takeover by the Iraqi army and Iranian-backed Shia Hashd al-Shaabi militias on Oct. 16.

Meanwhile, Masoud Bateli, the Director of the Kurdish side of the Haji Omaran crossing, told Kurdistan 24 the border gates were still closed.

According to Bateli, the officials at the gates “had not been notified by the Iranian side about the reopening of the border crossing.”

The Kurdistan Region shares three official border crossings with Iran: Bashmakh, Parwezkhan, and Haji Omaran.

Editing by Karzan Sulaivany