A long-shuttered Iraq-Syria border crossing reopens for the first time in more than a decade

Audio By Carbonatix

BAGHDAD (AP) — A key border crossing between Iraq and Syria reopened on Monday for the first time in more than a decade, with officials highlighting its potential for trade and oil exports. Syria touted the crossing as a safe overland route for oil exports and an alternative to the Strait of Hormuz at the focus of the Iran war.

The crossing — known as Rabia in Iraq and Yarubiyah in Syria — was closed after the Syrian civil war began in 2011. Then in 2014, militants from the Islamic State group seized the area. Iraqi Kurdish forces later retook it.

Syria’s state-run SANA news agency said that Syrian and Iraqi officials at the crossing discussed how to improve coordination and ease transit and trade “in line with shared interests.”

Nadia al-Jubouri, a member of Iraq's provincial council of Nineveh, said at the ceremony that the reopening will allow for "trade exchange and oil transportation toward this great gate.”

Still, transporting oil over land is far inferior — in capacity — to pipelines and oil tankers at sea.

Iraq relies heavily on oil revenues for roughly 90% of its budget, and most of its oil is exported through the Strait of Hormuz, the narrow mouth of the Persian Gulf and a critical chokepoint through which 20% of the world’s oil normally flows.