Iraq PM probes Maysan after Da'ir threatens roadblocks

Three days. That was the deadline Maysan Provincial Council chairman Mustafa Da'ir gave Baghdad on Monday before he would escalate his response to the shutdown of the al-Shib border crossing with Iran.

Prime Minister Ali Al-Zaidi ordered an investigation into the Maysan Provincial Council in response to the standoff. Da'ir had threatened "civil disobedience" and warned he would cut the province off from the rest of the country if the crossing remained closed.

Conflicting accounts explain the closure. An Iraqi official told Reuters on Wednesday that authorities shut the crossing last week to upgrade security and detection equipment. Salwan Taha Akreyi, a Kurdistan Democratic Party lawmaker, told Kurdistan24 that Baghdad closed the site at Washington's request to limit transit to Iran and block Tehran's efforts to strengthen its militias.

The dispute has drawn reactions from political factions. The Badr bloc, a Shiite Islamist group, rejected the prime minister's call for an investigation. Shafaq News reported that Badr argued the closure was hurting the region's economy and warned that a prolonged dispute could damage relations between Baghdad and the province.

Protests have intensified on the ground. Asharq Al-Awsat reported that dozens of protesters blocked roads leading to oil companies in the region to voice opposition to the closure. The standoff occurs as the blockade of the Strait of Hormuz has increased Iran's reliance on land routes through Iraq and Pakistan. Tehran has condemned the closure and rejected allegations that the crossing was used to traffic drugs and counterfeit currency.