Ankara Proposes an Alternative Border Gate to Baghdad

 Trucks are pictured after crossing the border between Iraq and Turkey as vehicles wait in line to pass Habur border gate near Silopi, Turkey, September 25, 2017. REUTERS/Umit Bektas
Trucks are pictured after crossing the border between Iraq and Turkey as vehicles wait in line to pass Habur border gate near Silopi, Turkey, September 25, 2017. REUTERS/Umit Bektas
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Ankara Proposes an Alternative Border Gate to Baghdad

 Trucks are pictured after crossing the border between Iraq and Turkey as vehicles wait in line to pass Habur border gate near Silopi, Turkey, September 25, 2017. REUTERS/Umit Bektas
Trucks are pictured after crossing the border between Iraq and Turkey as vehicles wait in line to pass Habur border gate near Silopi, Turkey, September 25, 2017. REUTERS/Umit Bektas

Ankara plans to open an alternative border gate to replace the currently used Habur gate with Iraq’s Kurdistan and has asked Baghdad on Friday to help take the needed measures to prepare the new crossing border.

Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yildirim said that if Baghdad decides to close all the borders, Turkey would respect the decision.

“We have proposed opening the new Ovakoy gate, west of currently used Habur gate, to Baghdad and we are expecting their support. We will be happy to discuss this with (Iraqi Prime Minister Haider) al-Abadi," Yildirim told reporters.

The prime minister added that Turkey’s new proposal aims to prevent any harm to the economic activities in the north of Iraq.

For his part, Ambassador Hisham al-Alawi told reporters on Friday at a news conference in Ankara that his country would use force if necessary to secure the crossing, adding that the military drills are a preparation for this.

“We are also mulling the possibility of opening a new border crossing,” he added, with a view to raising the volume of bilateral trade.

Al-Alawi said Yildirim would soon visit Baghdad, and that both governments should benefit from face-to-face meetings.

Meanwhile, the body of former Iraqi president Jalal Talabani was laid to rest on Friday in the Kurdish city of Sulaymaniyah in the presence of tens of thousands of mourners including Iraqi officials and Iranian Foreign minister Moahmmed Javad Zarif.

Talabani died in Germany on Tuesday. His body left Berlin Friday morning.

The referendum on independence held last Sept. 25 in the Iraqi Kurdistan Region reigned on the funeral.

On the sidelines of the funeral procession, Zarif said Friday that the recent independence referendum of Iraq's Kurdistan region was a "strategic mistake.”

However, the Iranian foreign minister said that his country does not blame the Kurdish people for the mistake made by some of their leaders, he was quoted by the Foreign Ministry’s website.



US Targets Houthis with Fresh Sanctions Action

Houthi members ride a pick-up truck while on patrol amid tensions with Israel, in Sanaa, Yemen, 18 July 2025. (EPA)
Houthi members ride a pick-up truck while on patrol amid tensions with Israel, in Sanaa, Yemen, 18 July 2025. (EPA)
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US Targets Houthis with Fresh Sanctions Action

Houthi members ride a pick-up truck while on patrol amid tensions with Israel, in Sanaa, Yemen, 18 July 2025. (EPA)
Houthi members ride a pick-up truck while on patrol amid tensions with Israel, in Sanaa, Yemen, 18 July 2025. (EPA)

The United States on Tuesday imposed sanctions on what it said was a Houthi-linked petroleum smuggling and sanctions evasion network across Yemen and the United Arab Emirates in fresh action targeting the Iran-backed militant group.

The US Treasury Department in a statement said the two individuals and five entities sanctioned on Tuesday were among the most significant importers of petroleum products and money launderers that benefit the Houthis.

"The Houthis collaborate with opportunistic businessmen to reap enormous profits from the importation of petroleum products and to enable the group’s access to the international financial system," said Deputy Secretary of the Treasury Michael Faulkender.

"These networks of shady businesses underpin the Houthis’ terrorist machine, and Treasury will use all tools at its disposal to disrupt these schemes."

Among those targeted on Tuesday was Muhammad Al-Sunaydar, who the Treasury said manages a network of petroleum companies between Yemen and the United Arab Emirates and was one of the most prominent petroleum importers in Yemen.

Three companies in his network were also designated, with the Treasury saying they coordinated the delivery of approximately $12 million dollars’ worth of Iranian petroleum products with a US-designated company to the Houthis.

Since Israel's war in Gaza against the Palestinian group Hamas began in October 2023, the Iran-aligned Houthis have been attacking vessels in the Red Sea in what they say are acts of solidarity with the Palestinians.

In January, Trump re-designated the Houthi movement as a foreign terrorist organization, aiming to impose harsher economic penalties in response to its attacks on commercial shipping in the Red Sea and against US warships defending the critical maritime area.

In May, the United States announced a surprise deal with the Houthis where it agreed to stop a bombing campaign against them in return for an end to shipping attacks, though the Houthis said the deal did not include sparing Israel.

The Israeli military attacked Houthi targets in Yemen's Hodeidah port on Monday in its latest assault on the militants, who have been striking ships bound for Israel and launching missiles against it.