Skip to content
You can now search across every topic, entity and event.What's new
Iran Conflict 2026
13SEP

Iraq shuts three Iranian crossings and the flights

2 min read
13:27UTC

Iraq closed the Shalamcheh, al-Shaib and Mandali crossings with Iran and suspended flights to the country, after launch sites for the drones that hit the Saudi pipeline were found near them.

← Back to Saudi bypass hit, and Riyadh holds fireJump to analysis ↓
ConflictDeveloping

Iraq closed three border crossings with Iran, Shalamcheh in Basra, al-Shaib in Maysan and Mandali in Diyala, and suspended flights to Iran, after launch sites for the drones that struck the Saudi pipeline were found near them 1 2. No source dates the decision, and the government has not published one.

The Israel Defence Forces struck Shalamcheh on 5 April, describing it as a logistics corridor connecting Iranian supply lines to Iraqi territory , so the point Baghdad has now shut is the same point an outside air force judged worth bombing. Closing it costs Iraqi trade as much as it costs Iranian supply, and Baghdad has not said how long the closure runs.

The flight suspension reaches less far than the closures. Iraq closed its national airspace outright early in the war, extending the shutdown by 72 hours in March ; this order stops traffic to one country. Baghdad has aimed both instruments at the border the drones came from, which is also the border its own economy depends on.

Deep Analysis

In plain English

Iraq and Iran share a long land border with a handful of official crossing points where lorries, buses and pilgrims pass through. After drones launched from Iraqi soil hit a Saudi oil pipeline, Iraq shut three of those crossings and stopped flights to Iran. The three are Shalamcheh in the south near Basra, al-Shaib in Maysan province, and Mandali further north in Diyala. The closures do not stop drones, which are launched from open ground rather than from border posts. They stop ordinary traffic, which is Baghdad's way of showing Iran and Saudi Arabia that it is doing something.

Deep Analysis
Root Causes

A border crossing is a formal point on a line that runs for hundreds of kilometres. Lorries, buses and pilgrims use it because the alternative is illegal; a drone launched from open ground near it uses nothing.

So the instrument and the problem do not match. Closing Shalamcheh, al-Shaib and Mandali stops trade and travel, and removes no launch capability from the province the drones came from.

The closure reaches the relationship instead. Iraq's land links to Iran are the part of the connection Baghdad controls outright, and shutting them is the loudest thing an Iraqi government can do to Tehran without a shot being fired.

What could happen next?
  • Consequence

    Iraqi importers who move goods through Shalamcheh and Mandali lost their route with no notice and no published end date at the time of the order.

    Immediate · Assessed
  • Meaning

    Baghdad reached for the one lever over Tehran that it controls outright, which is the land connection rather than anything military.

    Immediate · Assessed
  • Risk

    Two of the three crossings sit outside the province the launches were traced to, which leaves the order open to being read as a gesture rather than a security measure.

    Short term · Suggested
Sources:Al Jazeera·Middle East Monitor
Mentions:Israel Defense Forces (IDF) →Iraq →Iran →al-Shalamcheh border crossing →Basra →Al Jazeera →Israel →Baghdad →Saudi Arabia →
First Reported In

Update #178 · Saudi bypass hit, and Riyadh holds fire

Al Jazeera· 13 Sept 2026
Read original →
Causes and effects
Caused by
Drones hit the pipeline built to dodge Hormuz
Iraq closed three Iranian crossings after launch sites were found near them.
Occurred 10 Sept 2026
Read story →
This Event
Iraq shuts three Iranian crossings and the flights
Baghdad cut its own land and air links with Iran after tracing the drone launch sites to Iraqi soil.
Led to
Three days from closure to a reopening timetable
The phased reopening undid the closures within three days.
Occurred 13 Sept 2026
Read story →
Different Perspectives
United States
United States
OFAC gazetted two wind-down licences expiring four days apart and adopted a presumption of denial for new Iran sanctions requests, while the State Department separately sanctioned Kataib Hezbollah and Hezbollah financial networks. Washington is closing legal channels on a published calendar rather than all at once.
United Arab Emirates
United Arab Emirates
Crown Prince Sheikh Khaled bin Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan met Iran's president in New Delhi, the first known face-to-face since the war began, weeks after cutting all Emirati trade and financial dealings with Iran. Abu Dhabi is running economic pressure and diplomatic contact at the same time.
Houthis
Houthis
Houthi forces completed the capture of Yemen's Red Sea coast and Mayun island this week, an offensive a Houthi official confirmed alongside Yemeni government officers. The gain locks in the Bab al-Mandeb closure to Saudi crude declared as an embargo on 23 July.
Iran
Iran
Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmail Baghaei credited Iranian diplomacy backed by military strength for pushing neighbours to negotiate, citing the Oman safe-passage talks, while addressing none of the pipeline strike, the Iraqi dismissals or Saudi restraint directly.
Iraq
Iraq
Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi sacked two Maysan officials, closed and reopened three Iran border crossings inside three days, and approved a joint inquiry with Tehran into the launch site on his own territory. He is managing a militia network he does not fully control rather than confronting it.
Saudi Arabia
Saudi Arabia
Riyadh's Foreign Ministry confirmed the Petroline strike, named no attacker, and said it would hold off retaliating at Iraq's request while reserving the right to act on its own sovereignty. It expects Baghdad's inquiry, not a Saudi strike, to be the next move.