Iran to Lift Border Curbs on KRG

EghtesadOnline: Iran will reopen all its border crossings with Iraq’s Kurdistan Region in the coming days, lifting restrictions imposed after last month’s Kurdish vote in favor of independence, Iran’s Chief of Staff Major General Mohammad Baqeri said.

News ID: ۷۸۰۱۹۷

31 October 2017

The announcement comes a day after Iraqi Kurdish Leader Masoud Barzani said he would step aside as president on Nov. 1, after the independence referendum he championed backfired and triggered military action by Baghdad, Reuters reported. After the vote, Iraqi troops were ordered by the country’s Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi to take control of areas claimed by both Baghdad and the Kurdistan Regional Government.

Iran, which has its own Kurdish minority, also opposes independence for Iraqi Kurds, and at the request of Baghdad closed its borders with the Kurdish region in northern Iraq and halted all flights there and back.

“Border restrictions between Iran and Iraq’s Kurdish region will be lifted in the coming days,” Baqeri was quoted as saying by Financial Tribune.

Tehran already reopened the Bashmagh crossing last week.