Saudi Arabia plans to open the Arar border crossing with Iraq for the first time since 1990, according to Saudi local news media and officials. Al Jazeera reports.
Abdul Aziz al-Shammari, Saudi charge d’affaires in Baghdad, said on Tuesday “the crossing that will open soon will be dedicated to the transportation of goods”.
The Mecca newspaper reported that Saudi and Iraqi officials toured the site on Monday and spoke with Iraqi religious pilgrims, who had access to the crossing only once annually during the Hajj pilgrimage season.
Sohaib al-Rawi, the governor of Iraq’s southwestern Anbar province, whose staff was on hand for the ceremonies, said the Iraqi government had deployed troops to protect the desert route leading to Arar and called its opening a “significant move” to boost ties.