Iraq, Iran pave way for new border gate near Halabja

By Idris Okuducu

HALABJA, Iraq (AA) - Iraqi and Iranian officials on Thursday jointly inspected the shared border area near Halabja, a town in northern Iraq’s Kurdish region, where both countries hope to set up a new border terminal.

Shakir Jabouri, head of the Iraqi inspection team, said Halabja’s Shoshma entry point would eventually be transformed into a fully-functioning border crossing.

“Our basic objective is to develop the infrastructure needed to regulate and secure cross-border commercial traffic,” he told Anadolu Agency.

Halabja Governor Kawe Ali, for his part, said the Iraqi and Iranian authorities would jointly decide whether to formally establish the new border crossing once they had reviewed the inspectors’ final reports.

There are currently nine official crossings situated along the 1,450-kilometer Iran-Iraq border.