An Iraqi government official told Al Jazeera that Iraqi Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi has ordered the country's border crossing with Iran to be closed until further notice.

An Iraqi government official told Al Jazeera that Iraqi Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi has ordered the country's border crossing with Iran to be closed until further notice.

According to this official, several more border crossings between Iraq and Iran are going to be gradually closed in the coming days.

The Iraqi government has not yet announced the reason for this decision.

On Tuesday, the Shafaq News website quoted Iraqi government officials as saying "technical reasons" as the reason for closing the Shalmaha border.

However, the official news agency of the Iranian government - IRNA - wrote on Tuesday, October 20: "The Iraqi government has officially issued permission to enter all the trucks carrying onions, tomatoes and potatoes that have been stopped and piled up behind the borders of Iran and Iraq for several days."