---
title: "Iraq closes Sheeb border crossing with Iran to check security, sources say"
description: "Iraq has closed the busy Sheeb border crossing with Iran to review security and install detection equipmentto stop the smuggling of prohibited materials, an Iraqi border official said on Wednesday."
type: "NewsArticle"
publisher: "Daily Maverick"
site: "https://www.dailymaverick.co.za"
section: "World"
author: "Reuters"
author_url: "https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/author/reuters/"
canonical_url: "https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2026-10-21-iraq-closes-sheeb-border-crossing-with-iran-to-check-security-sources-say/"
published: "2026-10-21T11:42:30"
updated: "2026-10-21T11:43:00"
lang: "en-ZA"
word_count: 95
---

# Iraq closes Sheeb border crossing with Iran to check security, sources say

> Iraq has closed the busy Sheeb border crossing with Iran to review security and install detection equipmentto stop the smuggling of prohibited materials, an Iraqi border official said on Wednesday.

By Reuters · Published 21 October 2026, 13:42 SAST · Updated 21 October 2026, 13:43 SAST

## Content

Sheeb would be closed to passengers, vehicles and commercial trucks until further notice, two other sources at the crossing said.

Iraq ordered the closure of another crossing with Iran, Shalamcheh, in September as a precaution after drone attacks on Saudi Arabia, two security sources said at the time. Riyadh said the drones had been launched from Iraq.

The current security measures at Sheeb are weak and inadequate, the Iraqi border crossings official told Reuters.

(Reporting by Aref Mohammed, additional reporting by Ahmed Rasheed and Muayad Hameed ; Writing by Tala Ramadan; Editing by Andrew Heavens)