Shafaq News- Diyala

Iraq closed the Mandali-Somar border crossing with Iran in Diyala province on Friday until further notice, a source at the Iraqi Border Ports Authority told Shafaq News, days after reopening the Al-Sheeb crossing in Maysan.

Iraqi Border Ports Authority chief Omar Al-Waeli said earlier that the border crossing will be closed to allow its technical requirements to be completed.

Baghdad shut Al-Sheeb on Oct. 21, citing incomplete technical readiness and the need to upgrade its operations. Foreign Minister Fuad Hussein revealed on Saturday that the US Treasury had formally asked Baghdad to close all its border crossings with Iran except two, one of them in the Kurdistan Region, as part of Washington's policy of increasing economic pressure on Tehran.