Iraqi authorities on Wednesday closed a border crossing with Iran "until an unspecified date", an Iraqi source told AFP, with two other sources saying the US is pressuring Baghdad to close more crossings in order to tighten the screws on Tehran.
A source at Iraq's border crossings authority told AFP Wednesday that the al-Sheeb crossing "has been closed since this morning until an unspecified date", without specifying the reason.
The Iranian judiciary's Mizan Online website confirmed the closure, adding that it came "following a decision by the Iraqi prime minister's office".
The two countries are bound by close political, religious and economic ties and share a border of more than 1,400 kilometers (850 miles) with at least eight official crossings.
Washington has been seeking to increase economic pressure on Iran since the outbreak of the Middle East war in February, and has imposed sanctions on entities it accuses of being linked to Tehran.
Two political sources told AFP that the United States is pressuring the Iraqi government to close all border crossings with Iran.
One of the sources said "the US Treasury Department raised this with (Prime Minister Ali) al-Zaidi when he was in New York" last month to attend the UN General Assembly.
The source said "all border crossings will be closed except for one crossing in federal territory and one crossing in the Kurdistan region", which is semi-autonomous.
The second source added that "the United States has asked all countries bordering Iran to do the same".
Iranian authorities have acknowledged disruptions on the border with Pakistan.
"Regarding Pakistan, yes, there have been disruptions to border exchanges with some neighboring countries," Iranian interior ministry spokesperson Ali Zeinivand said on Wednesday.
"Some of these disruptions are naturally occurring and happen in various periods, even when there is no war or sanctions."
