In an interview with Kurdpress Abdullah Akrayee stated that in a joint meeting held on Saturday, last week, with KRG Interior Minister Ribar Ahmad and the minister of health Saman Barzanji, decisions were made to prevent the spread of the new virus.

Akrayee added they decided that all government ministries and institutions will be mobilized to prevent the new virus from entering into and spreading in the region, and borders movements would be halted, continuing to say that only Iranian citizens who are in the Kurdish region can return home and the Iraqi citizens who are in Iran can return to Iraq, where they will be quarantined for 14 days.

On the decisions made by the Kurdistan Regional Official on trade with Iran, the Iraqi Kurdish official said until the time of the interview the border crossings of Haji Omran and Bashmaq and Parviz Khan are open and trade is under way but movements have been halted in unofficial gates such as Killy, Shushmi, Cyransband and Sheikh Seleh. Trading, however, is continuing.

The official added flights from and to Iran have stopped. Akrayee pointed out that measures have been taken to transport diplomats and officials. It is worth mentioning that after the official announcement of the outbreak of the new Coronavirus in Iran, Iraq officially announced that it will no longer accept Iranian passengers and will not issue visas for Iranian passengers.

Iraq closed its land borders with Iran Thursday night in a pre-emptive attempt to stop the spread of the Coronavirus, and the Iraqi Border Guard Authority announced that its land border has been closed to Iranian passengers for three days.

Formerly Nazem Omar Dabagh, the KRG representative to Iran, told Kurdpress in an interview that based on received information, the KRG has taken precautions and guides to maintain trade between Iran and the KRG, and these transactions must continue.

Reporter’s code: 50101