Three-Day Deadline: Maysan Council Threatens Closure After Border Shutdown
The province has 72 hours to reopen the al-Shib crossing or it will cut off from Baghdad, according to council chairman Mustafa Da'ir.
By Amina Kaminski ·
Maysan Provincial Council chairman Mustafa Da'ir gave Baghdad a three-day deadline to reopen the al-Shib border crossing with Iran. If the deadline passes, he warned, the province will declare civil disobedience and cut itself off from the rest of the country.
Iraqi Prime Minister Ali Al-Zaidi ordered an investigation into the council on Monday in response to Da'ir’s threats. The federal government shut down the crossing last week. An Iraqi official told Reuters on Wednesday that the closure allows for upgrades to security and detection equipment.
Salwan Taha Akreyi, a lawmaker from the Kurdistan Democratic Party, offered a different explanation. He told Kurdistan24 that Washington requested the closure to limit transit to Iran and block Tehran from strengthening its militias in Iraq.
Dozens of protesters blocked roads leading to local oil companies to voice opposition to the shutdown, according to Asharq Al-Awsat. The Badr bloc, a Shiite Islamist group, rejected the prime minister’s probe. The group argued the closure is hurting the regional economy and warned that the dispute could damage relations between Baghdad and Maysan.
Badr also urged the government to crack down on alleged smuggling through unofficial crossings in the Kurdistan region. The standoff occurs as the blockade of the Strait of Hormuz forces Iran to rely more heavily on land routes through Iraq and Pakistan.
Tehran has strongly condemned the closure of the al-Shib crossing. It rejected allegations that the site was used to traffic drugs and counterfeit currency.
