Rudaw - Iran has reportedly decided to reopen the official border gates of Haji Omaran and Parviz-Khan, which it shares with the Kurdistan Region.

Abdullah Akraye, head of KRG relations with Iran, told Rudaw that Iranian officials had informed them that the two border ports of Haji Omaran and Parviz-Khan would be reopened on Tuesday.

Rudaw�s Halo Mohammed in Garmian district also said that the port of Parviz-Khan is now open. However, another Rudaw correspondent Bakhtiar Qadir in Haji Omaran sub district said that the Haji Omaran gate was not opened.

Moreover, Masoud Bateli, supervisor of Haji Omaran customs office, told Rudaw: �The Haji Omaran international port has not yet been opened, and Iran has told us nothing about its opening.�

Iran closed the border ports of Haji Omaran, Parviz-Khan and Bashmakh, which it shares with the Kurdistan Region on October 14, 2017, in response to Erbil�s referendum for independence from Iraq. Tehran opened Bashmakh gate 10 days after its closure, though.

But the two other gates have remained closed to date.

Haji Omaran, Parviz-Khan and Bashmakh are three border gates between Erbil and Tehran used for official trade and travel, and gates such as Kele and Tawela are unofficial and used only by semi-legal porters (locally known as Kolbars) who carry goods on their backs across the mountains and often must take dangerous routes to avoid detection by Iranian authorities.