It has been decided that the Shalamcheh border crossing be reopened next week after joint meetings with the Iraqi Coronavirus Combat Headquarters, said Adnan Abdullah, the deputy director of the Shalamcheh border crossing in Basra Province, in an address to the country’s media, Mehr News Agency reported.

He noted that vehicles and trucks are expected to be disinfected in a health care center near the Shalamcheh border.

Abdullah expressed hope that the two countries could resume their trade after preventive measures against coronavirus are completely implemented within the next week.

A member of the presiding board of Iran-Iraq Joint Chamber of Commerce, Seyyed Hamid Hosseini, said Iraqi officials have also promised to reopen the Mehran border crossing (in western Iran) in the next week.

Iraq decided to close common borders in the aftermath of the coronavirus outbreak in the country and region. The same decision was made by the Iraqi Kurdistan Region in the aftermath of the eruption of the crisis.

The Shalamcheh international border is 15 kilometers off the southwestern Iranian city of Khorramshahr, located 20 kilometers from Basra. It is the most prominent border crossing in the southwestern Iranian province of Khuzestan for trade transactions with Iraq.