الیDial Governor’s request to reopen borders with Iran
The governor of Diyala said he had asked the Iraqi central government to open trade crossings on the border with Iran in accordance with health protocols, given the lack of basic necessities and the escalation of unemployment in the province.
The governor of Iraq’s Diyala province, Masnani al-Tamimi, has announced that he has proposed to the central government to open the province’s border crossings with Iran, according to Fars News Agency’s International Group.
“The reopening of the border crossings with Iran is a matter for the federal government, and only central government officials have the authority to decide,” Al-Tamimi told the Baghdad Al-Youm news website.
“Our role as national authorities in Diyala is to strengthen preventive measures against the spread of the coronavirus, and the fear of transmitting the coronavirus through goods can be eliminated by disinfection and the adoption of the highest levels of preventive health measures,” he added.
“Turkey is a neighboring country of Iraq and currently has more than 150,000 infected people, which is the highest number of infected people in Iraq’s neighboring countries, so its border crossings with Iraq have not been opened,” Al-Tamimi said.
“Iranian crossings with the Iraqi Kurdistan region are open and goods are traded in large quantities,” said Governor Diali. Diyala province is currently facing a shortage of some basic materials. “Therefore, we have proposed to the government to open border crossings with Iran to provide the goods needed by the markets and to provide job opportunities for many unemployed people in the current situation, in addition to being a source of income for the province.”
عمر Omar al-Waili, head of the Iraqi government’s border crossing committee, announced Wednesday that the Mandali (Somar) border crossing in Diyala province and the Zarbatiya (Mehran) crossing in Wasit province will be reopened soon.
He stressed that the reopening of these crossings would be for trade purposes only and not for pilgrimage.
Regarding the crossings in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq, Al-Wali also said that these crossings have no connection with the federal government on the border with Iran and are ordered by the Kurdistan Regional Government.
The border crossings with Iran have been closed for almost two months with the outbreak of the coronavirus in Iran.