The US demands that Iraq close all but two border crossings with Iran.

The US demands that Iraq close all but two border crossings with Iran.

The US Treasury Department formally requested on Sunday that the Iraqi government close all but two of its border crossings with Iran, as Washington steps up its economic blockade against Tehran.

Speaking to Al Jazeera, Iraqi Foreign Minister Fouad Hussein confirmed that Washington is demanding that Baghdad limit all land trade and passenger transit to only two designated checkpoints - one in the Iraqi Kurdistan region and another elsewhere along the 1,600 kilometer shared border.

"Closing the border crossings can be a punishment for Iran, but it will also hurt Iraq," Hussein warned, stressing that trade and bilateral traffic would stop.

"Trade will stop, traffic will stop, and this will affect us economically. The Americans still want to close the crossings, and we are in talks with them. ".

The diplomatic pressure coincides with CENTCOM's announcement of Task Force Iron Gate, a Tampa-based interagency unit tasked with enforcing a land blockade across Iran's land borders and Caspian Sea shipping lanes.

Hussein also detailed the severe economic fallout from the regional crisis, revealing that Baghdad lost about $60 billion after energy exports through the Strait of Hormuz were disrupted during the first four months of the US-Israel war in Iran. Before the naval blockade, Iraq exported between 3.3 and 3.4 million barrels of crude oil daily through the Persian Gulf corridor.

Referring to ongoing security initiatives, the foreign minister reiterated Baghdad's firm opposition to foreign forces using Iraqi territory to carry out attacks against neighboring countries.

Hussein noted that the Iraqi prime minister's negotiations reached initial understandings with four armed factions to unify arms under state authority, while dialogue continues with two remaining groups.