Shalamcheh open for Iran-Iraq trade: Iraqi official

The Shalamcheh border checkpoint is performing usual commercial trades, Munadhil Al-Mayahi told reporters in Basra on Monday.

The only authorized body to decide on whether Shalamcheh border pass should be closed is the Iraqi government and the governorate of Basra Province, he added.

Al-Mayahi was responding to the rumors by the British sources about the closure of the border.

He emphasized that Shalamcheh boarder was not closed in previous days and commercial trades and commuting of passengers and pilgrims was going on as usual.

The Basra-based news agency WNA had reported that a decision had been issued Sunday by the central government to close the border to all trucks carrying goods from Iran to Iraq and prevent it from entering Iraq. The movement of people, however, was still possible, the report added.

BA/ER

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MNA