Iraq, Jordan Reopen Border Crossing

Iraqi flags fly at the Iraqi Trebil border crossing on the Iraq-Jordan border on August 30, 2017. (AP)
Iraqi flags fly at the Iraqi Trebil border crossing on the Iraq-Jordan border on August 30, 2017. (AP)
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Iraq, Jordan Reopen Border Crossing

Iraqi flags fly at the Iraqi Trebil border crossing on the Iraq-Jordan border on August 30, 2017. (AP)
Iraqi flags fly at the Iraqi Trebil border crossing on the Iraq-Jordan border on August 30, 2017. (AP)

Iraq and Jordan have inaugurated a joint industrial area on the border between the neighboring countries.

The ceremony on the Iraq-Jordan border was attended by Iraqi Prime Minister Adel Abdul-Mahdi and his Jordanian counterpart Omar Razzaz.

Saturday's meeting was also attended by top officials as the former neighbors boost their relations following the defeat of the ISIS terrorist group that controlled areas in Iraq bordering Jordan.

The border crossing was formally reopened Saturday.

As part of the agreement between the two countries that was signed in late December, Iraq will supply Jordan with oil a day at a lower price.

Under the deal, Iraq would sell 10,000 barrels per day of oil to Jordan at a special price, transported by tanker from its Kirkuk oilfields, the Jordanian prime minister’s office said in a statement. It did not say what the price was or when the oil would be exported.

Iraqi goods imported via Jordan’s Aqaba port on the Red Sea would meanwhile receive preferential tariffs, it said.

Aqaba port at the north end of the Red Sea has long been a major transit route for Iraqi imports and exports, and Amman has long relied on Iraqi crude to fuel its economy.

Razzaz’s office also said Jordan would begin to export electricity to Iraq within the next two years.

Abdul Mahdi says the government aims to decrease dependency on oil exports for state revenue. Oil exports from OPEC’s second-largest producer account for more than 95 percent of state revenues.

Furthermore, Abdul-Mahdi's office said Iraqi officials were handed 1,300 pieces of antiquities that Jordanian authorities confiscated from smugglers.



UK Lifts Sanctions on Syrian Central Bank and Petroleum Firms

A general view of the commercial harbor of Syria's coastal city of Tartous, Syria, December 14, 2024. (Reuters)
A general view of the commercial harbor of Syria's coastal city of Tartous, Syria, December 14, 2024. (Reuters)
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UK Lifts Sanctions on Syrian Central Bank and Petroleum Firms

A general view of the commercial harbor of Syria's coastal city of Tartous, Syria, December 14, 2024. (Reuters)
A general view of the commercial harbor of Syria's coastal city of Tartous, Syria, December 14, 2024. (Reuters)

Britain unfroze the assets of Syria's central bank and 23 other entities including banks and oil companies on Thursday, reversing sanctions imposed during Bashar al-Assad's presidency.

The West is rethinking its approach to Syria after opposition forces led by the Hayat Tahrir al-Sham group ousted Assad as president in December after more than 13 years of civil war.

"We are lifting asset freezes on 24 Syrian entities that were previously used by the Assad regime to fund the oppression of the Syrian people," a foreign office spokesperson said.

"At the same time, sanctions on members of the Assad regime and those involved in the illicit trade in captagon remain in place."

Captagon in an addictive amphetamine-like stimulant widely produced in Syria during Assad's rule.

A notice posted on the British government website said entities including the central bank, the Commercial Bank of Syria and the Agricultural Cooperative Bank had been delisted and were no longer subject to an asset freeze.

Syrian Arab Airlines, Syrian Petroleum Company, Syria Trading Oil Company (SYTROL) and Overseas Petroleum Trading were also among those delisted.

Syria's Interim President Ahmed al-Sharaa has called repeatedly for the lifting of Western sanctions that were imposed to isolate Assad during the civil war.

Last month, the European Union eased restrictions on the Syrian central bank while keeping in place the sanctions. The US has said its sanctions on the central bank remain in place.

A Syrian government media official did not immediately respond to a request for comment.