After a brief security closure that followed a drone attack targeting a pipeline in Saudi Arabia, Baghdad announced, on Sunday, the gradual return of passenger and trade movement through its border crossings with Iran, according to a schedule extending until Thursday.
The Iraqi Security Media Cell confirmed, in a statement, the resumption of the entry of travelers through the Al-Shayb and Shalamja crossings, as of Sunday dawn.
She explained that trade movement will resume at the Shalamcheh port on Monday, and at the Mandali port on Tuesday, and will return to the Al-Shaib port on Thursday.
The cell revealed that trade movement with Iran continues around the clock through the Zurbatiyah and Al-Mundhiriya ports.
On Saturday, Iraq closed a number of its border crossings with Iran, following a drone attack targeting a pipeline in Saudi Arabia, which Riyadh and Baghdad said originated from Iraqi territory.
No party claimed responsibility for the attack, while a coalition of Iraqi armed factions supported by Tehran stressed that it was not involved in it.
In parallel, two Iraqi security sources reported on Saturday that the authorities found platforms for launching drones near the Iraqi-Iranian border, specifically in the remote Tayeb area in the southern Maysan governorate.
Iraqi Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi agreed to the Iranian side’s request to conduct a joint investigation into the incident.
Al-Zaidi had announced the dismissal of the operations commander and police chief in the Maysan border governorate with Iran, after it was proven that the attacks were launched from within the governorate.
