US Asks Iraq to Close Border Crossings with Iran: FM Hussein

Fuad Hussein, Iraq’s foreign minister, said the United States had asked Baghdad to close all border crossings shared with Iran, except for two. Spaking to al-Jazeera, Fuad Husseiin on Saturday, Fuad Hussein said that Washington had asked Baghdad to close all border crossings shared with Iran, except for two. This comes after the US failures in its military campaign and naval blockade against Tehran.

The Al-Sheib border crossing in Iraq, known as Chazabeh on the Iranian side, has been closed since the morning of Wednesday, October 21, 2026, by order of the Iraqi government led by Prime Minister Ali Faleh al-Zaidi. As a result, both passenger traffic and the movement of commercial goods through the crossing have been suspended. Eighteen days after the closure, protests in Iraq’s Maysan province are continuing. Reports indicate that gathering of protesters also escalated into tensions and clashes.

Iraq’s foreign minister said the current situation points to the possibility of renewed military conflict. Hussein also said Iraq had suffered losses of approximately US$60 billion following the suspension of oil exports through the Strait of Hormuz. - Mehr