CAIRO, October 21. /TASS/. The Iraqi government has closed most checkpoints along the border with Iran "until further notice," with the move prompted by what Baghdad described as "evidence of Tehran’s involvement in attacks on Saudi Arabia" in September, allegedly launched from Iraqi territory, the Shafaq News portal reported.
According to the portal’s source, Iraqi Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi personally ordered the closure of the border checkpoints. The Iraqi authorities believe that the Islamic Republic was not only involved in the strike on Saudi Arabia’s East-West oil pipeline but also imported components for drone assembly into border areas, where they were subsequently used in attacks on Saudi Arabia.
The official authorities in Iraq and Iran have not yet commented on the report.
The East-West oil pipeline was struck on September 11. The following day, September 12, the Iraqi prime minister dismissed the commander of the operational command in Maysan Province after information was confirmed that the unmanned aerial vehicles that attacked the pipeline had been launched from its territory.