Syria Seeking to Reopen Border Crossing with Iraq


TEHRAN (Tasnim) – Syria’s Foreign Ministry has reportedly informed Iraq of accelerated efforts to reopen al-Qaim border crossing, a post in eastern Syria that was long held by the Daesh (ISIL) terrorist group.

In a meeting with Iraq’s Foreign Minister Ibrahim al-Jaafari, Syrian Ambassador to Baghdad Sattam Jad’an al-Dandah has delivered a message from Foreign Minister of Syria Walid Muallem, announcing an acceleration of efforts to reopen the border crossing between Syria’s eastern city of Al-Bukamal and Iraq’s western town of Qaim, RT reported.

In the meeting, the Iraqi foreign minister has stressed the need for coordination of stances and cooperation between the two neighbors to settle the region’s problems through peaceful solutions and non-interference in the internal affairs of others, it added.

Al-Qaim border crossing, which connects Al-Bukamal in Syria's Deir ez-Zor Governorate to the city of Husaybah in Iraq’s Qaim district of Anbar Governorate, had fallen into the hands of Daesh terrorists who captured large areas of western Iraq in summer 2014.

In November 2017, Iraqi forces recaptured the city of Qaim from terrorists and gained control of the strategic border crossing.