Baghdad audits Maysan council after three-day deadline

Mustafa Da'ir gave Baghdad a three-day deadline to reopen the al-Shib border crossing before he would escalate his response. The ultimatum triggered a formal probe into the Maysan Provincial Council, ordered by Prime Minister Ali Al-Zaidi on Monday.

Da'ir threatened civil disobedience if the government did not act. He warned that he would isolate the province from the rest of Iraq. Authorities shut the crossing with Iran last week. An Iraqi official told Reuters on Wednesday that the closure allows for upgrades to security and detection equipment.

Salwan Taha Akreyi, a lawmaker from the Kurdistan Democratic Party, offered a different account. He told Kurdistan24 that Washington requested the shutdown. According to Akreyi, the goal is to limit transit and block Tehran from strengthening its militias in Iraq.

Protests accompanied the standoff. Asharq Al-Awsat reported that dozens of demonstrators blocked roads leading to oil companies in the region. The Badr bloc, a Shiite Islamist group, rejected the prime minister's order to investigate. Shafaq News reported that Badr argued the closure hurts the local economy and risks straining relations between Baghdad and the province.

Badr also urged the government to target smuggling through unofficial crossings in the Kurdistan region. The dispute occurs while the Strait of Hormuz remains blocked. Iran has become more dependent on land routes through Iraq and Pakistan. Tehran condemned the closure and rejected claims that the crossing was used for drugs and counterfeit currency.

The investigation will now examine the council's actions during the standoff. Da'ir's deadline has passed without a confirmed reopening of the crossing. The provincial council remains the subject of the federal government's review.