In the midst of American pressure, Iraq closed the Mandali border crossing with Iran and opened the al-Shayib crossing.
While Iraq announced the temporary closure of the Mandali (Sumar) border crossing with Iran under the pretext of carrying out repairs and updating the infrastructure, it reopened the al-Shayib (Cheba) crossing after several weeks of closure. The decisions came amid growing pressure from Washington on Baghdad to limit border exchanges with Tehran and heightened debate over the extent to which American economic pressure is affecting Iraq's border policy.
Zamane Radio.