Trucks have been banned from using the border crossings of Parvizkhan and Bashmaq until further notice due to the long lines of vehicles waiting there to cross into Iraqi Kurdistan, says Mohsen Yazarlou a local official in Golestan Province, the Ministry of Roads and Urban Development's news service reported.
As Iraq has closed its borders with Iran since the coronavirus outbreak, all commercial exchanges with the neighboring country have been taking place at border gates with the Kurdish region of the Iraq.
That is to say the border crossings of Shalamcheh, Chazzabeh, Mehran and Khosravi remain closed for commercial exchanges.
“Sheikh Saleh border crossing in Salas-e Babajani County, Kermanshah Province, will reopen on April 30,” spokesperson of the Islamic Republic of Iran Customs Administration, Rouhollah Latifi, said on April 29.
The crossing opens to the Iraqi Kurdistan region.
On Tuesday, Shooshemi, another crossing linking the Kurdish region, resumed activities following two months of closure since the virus outbreak.
As many as 200 trucks for exports to Iraq pass through Sheikh Saleh border on a daily basis, Latifi was quoted as saying by Mehr News Agency.
With the opening of the two crossings, there are now six gates open for trade between Iran and Iraqi Kurdistan.
The crossing of Parvizkhan and Tamarchin as well as Bashmaq between Iran and Iraqi Kurdistan have been open all along.
Secretary-General of Iran-Iraq Chamber of Commerce Hamid Hosseini said last month that between 700 and 800 trucks carrying Iranian goods cross the Iraqi Kurdistan border from Iran per day.
Around half of Iran’s total non-oil exports to Iraq is exported through Kermanshah Province.
Iraq is the main destination of Iran's exports among its neighboring countries.
