Iran re-opens one of three border crossings with the Kurdistan Region

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region (Kurdistan 24) – Iran reopened one of its border gates with the Kurdistan Region on Wednesday, over one week after having closed it in retaliation to the Sep.25 referendum on independence, Iranian state media reported.

“After the referendum and changes within the Kurdistan region, our borders with the Kurdistan region of Iraq were closed... today the Bashmakh border is open,” Jahangir Bakhshi, the head of customs for the border crossing, said, according to the Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting (IRIB) news agency.

Iran has been one of the regional countries most opposed to the independence vote. Its influence in Iraq manifested most recently in the Iranian-backed Shia Hashd al-Shaabi militia helping Iraqi Forces seize cities in the disputed territories, including the multi-ethnic and oil-rich Kirkuk.

The decision to re-open the Bashmakh border crossing came on the same day as the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) offered to freeze the result of the Sep. 25 vote as a step toward resolving its disputes with Baghdad through dialogue rather than military means.

There are three official border crossings between the Kurdistan Region and Iraq: Bashmakh, Parwezkhan, and Haji Omaran.

So far, there have been no decisions regarding the re-opening of the two other official passages, the border gates’ directors told Kurdistan 24 on Wednesday.

Trade between the Kurdistan Region and Iran each year amount to tens of billions of dollars.

Despite having good economic relations with Iran, KRG officials have often accused Tehran of interfering in the internal affairs of the Kurdistan Region and Iraq.

Qassem Soleimani, the Iranian Revolutionary Guards' military commander, visited the Kurdistan Region in the past weeks to convince Kurdish leaders to withdraw from Kirkuk before the Shia militia and Iraqi forces launched their assault on Kirkuk on Oct. 16.

The Kurdish leadership and many US officials have criticized Iran's role in the attack, with some accusing Soleimani of orchestrating the Hashd al-Shaabi and Iraqi forces military incursion against the Kurdistan Region, an accusation the Iranian officials deny.

Editing by G.H. Renaud