Syrian sources have confirmed that the Iraqi government has decided to close the border between the two countries until further notice. They stressed that it is a "lasting" decision and clarified that the measure will apply to the entry points for those travelling from Syria to Iraq, and not from Iraq to Syria, suggesting that the Syrian government will not close its border to Iraqis. The Iraqi government announced its decision in a statement issued on Wednesday, which stated that only commercial vehicles "licenced by the Iraqi government" will be allowed to cross the border. In the statement, prime minister Ibrahim al-Jaafari also declared a state of emergency in the Sunni dominated provinces of Ninve and al-Anbar for the next 30 days. Under the emergency law, a 10-7 am curfew will be imposed and a ban on carrying weapons within five kilometres of the Syrian border.
The last time the Syrian-Iraqi border was closed was September, when Iraq decided to stop the flow of people entering the country from Syria for ten days, therefore also preventing Iraqi citizens from returning to their country. This followed the offensive by Iraqi and American forces on the town of Telafar, close to the Syrian-Iraqi border, launched in an effort to prevent armed groups infiltrating Iraq from Syria. The decision to close the border again comes as Iraq prepares to hold elections in a week's time to elect the country's first non-transitory parliament.