Iraq: Iraqi – Saudi Arar Border Crossing to Re-Open for the First Time in 30 years

Baghdad-Iraq18/11/2020 

Iraqi borders authority opened the Iraqi – Saudi Arar border crossing for trade for the first time in 30 years, a gesture that may indicate boosting bilateral relations.  The opening ceremony was attended by top officials, including Iraqi interior minister, Othman Al-Ghanmi, Deputy Commander of Joint Operations, Lieutenant General Abdul Amir Al-Shammari, Chairman of the Border Ports Authority – Major General Omar Adnan Al-Waeli, the governors of Anbar and Karbal and the Saudi ambassador to Iraq. Experts indicated that reopening Arar border will foster economic ties and will pave the way for offering various trade deals with neighboring countries which will return with high yields to Iraq. it is worth mentioning that the Arar port was shut during the second Gulf War in 1990 and was then partially reopened in 2013 under certain restrictions. The border crossing was sealed shut again after ISIS took over the cities of western and northern Iraq in 2014.