Iraq and Syria on Monday opened a key border crossing between the two neighboring countries, seven years after it was closed during Syria's civil war and the battle against the Daesh terror group.
The opening of the crossing linking the Iraqi town of Qaim and Syria's Boukamal is expected to strengthen trade between the two Arab countries.
But it is also a boost to Iran's influence in the region, allowing Iran-backed militias in Iraq easier access to eastern Syria amid soaring tensions in the region between Tehran and Washington following the collapse of Iran's nuclear deal with world powers.
In a symbolic gesture, Assad regime Interior Minister Maj. Gen. Mohammed Khaled Rahmoun, accompanied by regime troops, crossed onto the Iraqi side of the border, where troops from both countries hugged each other and took selfies.
Qaim and Boukamal were controlled by the Daesh terror group until 2017, when Syrian regime and Iraqi troops captured the towns from the terrorists. The group's territorial defeat was announced in Syria earlier this year.
Iraqi authorities had set up tents for Monday's ceremony amid tight security, with troops deployed around the crossing. Despite their official defeat, Daesh sleeper cells are still blamed for deadly attacks on both sides of the border.
"The opening of Boukamal-Qaim crossing is a victory for Syrian and Iraqi friendship against takfiri terrorism," read a banner placed on the Syrian side of the border, a reference to the extremist ideology of the Daesh.
Some 800 freight trucks are expected to cross from Syria once the crossing has been opened, Syria's state news agency said.
Qaim was once a thriving stopover on the highway linking Damascus and Baghdad. Long before a hard border materialized in the latter half of the 20th century, tribes sent their grooms and brides across the frontier to marry, extending the branches of their families on both sides.
The opening of the crossing was postponed several times in recent weeks. Earlier in September, the Assad regime blamed Israel for a nighttime airstrike on an arms depot and posts of Iranian-backed militias in Boukamal that opposition activist said killed at least 18 fighters.
Israel considers Iran to be its greatest enemy, and as Syria's civil war winds down, it has repeatedly warned that it will not allow Iranian troops — who have been fighting alongside Bashar Assad's forces — to maintain a permanent presence in postwar Syria.
Syria and Iraq have three key border crossings between them, with Boukamal the only one controlled by the Assad regime. The second one is controlled by the U.S.-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), which is led by the terrorist PKK-affiliated People's Protection Units (YPG), while the third crossing, the nearby Tanf, is held by Syrian opposition groups.
