🔻After multiple images were published on social media about congestion at the Bazargan border, the governor of Maku denied “rumors about the closure” of this border and said: “The congestion created at this border was due to an increase in traffic volume.”

Sehila Tajfard, governor of Maku, with an emphasis that this border is open, told IRNA yesterday, 20 Shahrivar, saying: “A significant increase in the movement of passengers and restrictions on entry on the Turkish side led to a 12- to 13-hour delay and heavy traffic on the exit. With the consultations carried out with the Turkish side, the problem was resolved and traffic returned to normal.”

Some passengers, who shared their experience of the delay at the border on social media, said that the reason for this slowdown was “new strictness by Turkish border guards, including the vehicle emissions test and the use of material-detecting dogs.”

At the same time, amid these challenges at the northern borders, the deputy governor of Khuzestan Province announced that, at the order of the Iraqi government, the Shalamcheh and Chazabeh borders have been closed to pilgrims and traders from early this Saturday, 21 Shahrivar, until further notice.