At a Glance

• The Kurdistan Regional Government has received no official directives from Baghdad to shut down its border crossings with Iran.

• All Kurdish land ports remain fully operational while customs officials await formal written instructions from the Ministry of Finance.

• The federal government closed the southern al-Sheeb border crossing for logistical infrastructure upgrades.

The Kurdistan Region Directorate General of Customs stated that no official letter has been received from Baghdad so far regarding the closure of its border crossings with Iran.

Key Statements and Focus Area

• A source from the Directorate General of Customs told Channel8 that they exclusively act upon official written directives forwarded by the Ministry of Finance and Economy.

• In recent days, several Iraqi media outlets reported that during a previous meeting of the Coordination Framework, the Iraqi Prime Minister presented a U.S. request to close the border crossings to those in attendance, but they rejected it.

According to an official KRG source, the authority has neither been notified nor instructed to close the borders with Iran.

The source highlighted that the border crossings are continuing their daily operations normally.

FYI

The Kurdistan Region operates three official border crossings with Iran, located at Haji Omaran in Erbil, Parvizkhan in Garmian, and Bashmakh in Slemani.

Separately, the al-Sheeb border crossing has been closed to all tourists, civilian vehicles, and commercial trucks since October 21, by order of Iraqi Prime Minister Ali Faleh al-Zaidi. 

According to an Iraqi government spokesperson, the suspension is due to technical and logistical issues. 

The closure will remain in place while the government installs necessary technological upgrades to develop the crossing's infrastructure.

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