Iran on Monday re-opened five border crossing points with Kurdish-run northern Iraq, closed last month to protest the American detention of an Iranian official. The border points were closed to protest the detention of an Iranian official who the American military said was a member of the paramilitary Quds Force, a branch of the Iranian Revolutionary Guards that is accused of provide arms and training to Shiite extremists.
The border points, which had been shut down on Sept. 24, were reopened after a Kurdish delegation traveled to Tehran to complain the region should not be punished for something the Americans did. Iraqi and Iranian authorities have claimed that the detained Iranian, Mahmoud Farhadi, was in Iraq on official business and demanded his release.
According to the AP, a spokesman for the Kurdish regional government in northern Iraq, Jamal Abdullah, voiced hope the resumed flow of traffic and goods would help reduce price hikes that had plagued the region since the closures.
The reopening is in the "economical interests of both countries," Abdullah said, adding that Tehran and Baghdad share the responsibility to "prevent gunmen from having access to either side of border."
Meanwhile, Iraq has vowed to punish American security firm Blackwater after a probe found that its guards were not provoked when they opened "deliberate" fire in Baghdad three weeks ago, killing 17 civilians.
"This and other matters will be discussed by the joint commission as they proceed with their work, (so it is) best not to prejudge the outcome of their discussions at this point," U.S. embassy spokeswoman Mirembe Nantongo told AFP.
The Iraqi government said in its report into the killings in Nisoor Square released on Sunday that the Blackwater guards were unprovoked when they opened fire and that they should face legal punishment. "The investigation committee appointed by Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki ... has finished its inquiry and has found that there was no evidence that the convoy of Blackwater came under fire directly or indirectly," a government statement said.
"It was not touched even by a stone," it said.
"Employees of the company violated the rules governing use of force by security companies," it said. "They have committed a deliberate crime and should be punished under the law."
