US Pressure on Baghdad to Close Most Border Crossings with Iran

Baghdad – Agencies: The Iraqi government is facing growing U.S. pressure to take concrete steps to curb Iran’s influence within Iraq, amid escalating tensions between Washington and Tehran and mounting American concerns that Iraqi territory is being used as a transit route for weapons, equipment, and supplies to armed groups linked to Iran. Iraqi Foreign Minister Fawzi Hussein revealed in an interview with Al Jazeera that the United States has asked Baghdad to close most of its border crossings with Iran, keeping only two open, a move that reflects Washington’s desire to tighten oversight of cross-border trade and supply flows between the two countries. This demand places the Iraqi government under intense political and security scrutiny, given the length of the shared border, the intertwined economic and commercial interests between the two nations, and the presence of political forces and armed factions with close ties to Tehran. According to the interview, Baghdad is holding talks with the Iranian side on several security files, foremost among them the issue of weapons held by armed factions, in an effort to prevent Iraq from becoming another arena for regional confrontation. Hussein noted that the Iraqi government has informed Tehran that it accepts the continuation of friendship and cooperation between the two countries, but rejects interference in its internal affairs, underscoring Baghdad’s insistence on affirming the independence of its political and security decision-making.