SULAIMANI (ESTA) — Iraqi border ports authority will take control of the border crossings in the Kurdistan Region in the near future, its director said on Thursday.
Head of the border ports authority Omer al-Waeli said officials had discussed the closure of unofficial border crossings in the Region with the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG).
“Legal measures to control the Kurdistan Region’s border crossings will be implemented in the near future,” Al Forat news quoted Waeli as saying.
In November, general director of customs in the Kurdistan Region Samal Abdulrahman said the Region had nine border crossings, four of which are international. The rest are non-international.
The KRG has recognized the five non-international border crossings, but the federal government has yet to do so despite sending teams to investigate and check on them, according to the official.
Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi in November ordered the Iraqi Joint Operations Command to close unofficial border crossings in the country.
Regarding revenue, Waeli said the border crossings generated 1.194 trillion Iraqi dinars ($771 billion) in 2020. It was 1.122 trillion in 2019, he added.
