Iraq to Set up Barbed Wire Fence to Secure Border with Iran

Iraqi soldiers are seen on duty. (INA)
Iraqi soldiers are seen on duty. (INA)
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Iraq to Set up Barbed Wire Fence to Secure Border with Iran

Iraqi soldiers are seen on duty. (INA)
Iraqi soldiers are seen on duty. (INA)

Iraq has kicked off a plan to erect a barbed wire fence to secure its borders with Iran.

The move is taking place days after Interior Minister Abdul Amir Al Shammari said Iraq’s border with Syria has been almost completely secured with surveillance cameras.

He added that the border with Iraq remains a source of concern given the activities of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party in the Iraqi Kurdistan Region.

An Iraqi security source said on Sunday that the barbed wire fence with Iran will stretch from the eastern Diyala region to the Waset and Sulaymaniyah provinces.

Advanced thermal cameras and surveillance towers will also be set up along the border to prevent smuggling and any infiltrations, it added.

The erection of the fence is in line with a joint security agreement signed between Baghdad and Tehran in November 2023.

Separately, Iraqi military spokesman Yahya Rasool announced the launch of a third phase of the anti-ISIS “Promise of Truth” operation carried out by the armed forces.

The latest phase aims to crack down on remnants of the extremist group in its “most dangerous hotbeds” between the provinces of al-Anbar and Diyala.

The operation was kicked off in the Salaheddine and Kirkuk regions at dawn on Sunday. It is being overseen by the Joint Operations Command and carried out according to accurate intelligence information, added Rasool.

Later on Sunday, the Joint Operations Command announced the killing of ten ISIS members during the third phase of the crackdown.



US Defers Removal of Some Lebanese, Citing Israel-Hezbollah Tensions

Smoke billows from a site targeted by Lebanon's Hezbollah, along the northern Israeli border with Lebanon on July 25, 2024, amid ongoing cross-border clashes between Israeli troops and Hezbollah fighters. (AFP)
Smoke billows from a site targeted by Lebanon's Hezbollah, along the northern Israeli border with Lebanon on July 25, 2024, amid ongoing cross-border clashes between Israeli troops and Hezbollah fighters. (AFP)
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US Defers Removal of Some Lebanese, Citing Israel-Hezbollah Tensions

Smoke billows from a site targeted by Lebanon's Hezbollah, along the northern Israeli border with Lebanon on July 25, 2024, amid ongoing cross-border clashes between Israeli troops and Hezbollah fighters. (AFP)
Smoke billows from a site targeted by Lebanon's Hezbollah, along the northern Israeli border with Lebanon on July 25, 2024, amid ongoing cross-border clashes between Israeli troops and Hezbollah fighters. (AFP)

The United States is deferring the removal of certain Lebanese citizens from the country, President Joe Biden said on Friday, citing humanitarian conditions in southern Lebanon amid tensions between Israel and Hezbollah.

The deferred designation, which lasts 18 months, allows Lebanese citizens to remain in the country with the right to work, according to a memorandum Biden sent to the Department of Homeland Security.

"Humanitarian conditions in southern Lebanon have significantly deteriorated due to tensions between Hezbollah and Israel," Biden said in the memo.

"While I remain focused on de-escalating the situation and improving humanitarian conditions, many civilians remain in danger; therefore, I am directing the deferral of removal of certain Lebanese nationals who are present in the United States."

Israel and Iran-backed Hezbollah have been trading fire since Hezbollah announced a "support front" with Palestinians shortly after its ally Hamas attacked southern Israeli border communities on Oct. 7, triggering Israel's military assault in Gaza.

The fighting in Lebanon has killed more than 100 civilians and more than 300 Hezbollah fighters, according to a Reuters tally, and led to levels of destruction in Lebanese border towns and villages not seen since the 2006 Israel-Lebanon war.

On the Israeli side, 10 Israeli civilians, a foreign agricultural worker and 20 Israeli soldiers have been killed. Tens of thousands have been evacuated from both sides of the border.