Iraq's Security Media Cell published a phased reopening of the Iranian border crossings on Sunday 13 September 20261. Passenger traffic at al-Shaib and Shalamcheh resumed at 6am that day, Shalamcheh commercial traffic follows on Monday, Mandali on Tuesday and al-Shaib on Thursday2.
Shalamcheh, the crossing the Israel Defence Forces bombed on 5 April as a logistics corridor between Iranian supply lines and Iraqi territory, is the first to take freight again. The sequencing runs passengers before lorries at every crossing, which restores the movement Iraqi families notice within hours and the movement that carries cargo over four days.
The timetable also prices the closure. Baghdad shut the crossings after tracing the drone launch sites near them3, and published a route back before the investigative council it appointed has reported anything. A closure with a published end date asks less of Tehran than one without, and it tells Iraqi traders precisely how long to wait.
