BAGHDAD -- Iraq has closed the Sheeb border crossing with Iran until further notice, a government spokesman said, attributing the shutdown to technical and infrastructural deficiencies, even as multiple sources said Washington had leaned on Baghdad to seal the frontier.
Government spokesman Haider al-Aboudi said the closure of the Sheeb terminal — the Iraqi side of Iran’s Chazabeh crossing — stemmed “purely from a lack of technical, technological and infrastructural readiness,” Iran’s Tasnim news agency reported. 
He declared that Baghdad “will never allow its soil to be used to threaten neighboring countries” and that Iraq “does not in any way accept hosting any armed group involved in specific conflicts.”
He added that a high committee and joint coordination with Tehran were working to settle the file of Iranian armed elements on Iraqi territory.
Two sources at the crossing told Reuters that Sheeb was shut to passengers, vehicles and commercial trucks “until further notice.” An Iraqi border official said the closure aimed “to review security and install detection equipment to stop the smuggling of prohibited materials.”
Valiollah Hayati, a security official in Iran’s southwestern Khuzestan province, confirmed the closure and said consultations to resume operations were under way. Tehran said Iraq gave no formal notice before the sudden shutdown.
An Iraqi source told AFP the crossing would stay shut “until further notice,” while two other sources said Washington is pressing Baghdad to close more crossings. Iran’s Mizan website reported the closure followed “a decision by the Iraqi prime minister’s office.”
Other sources said the United States wants every Iraqi crossing with Iran sealed. “The U.S. Treasury Department raised this with Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi when he was in New York. All border crossings will be closed except for one crossing in federal territory and one crossing in the Kurdistan region,” one source said.
The UAE-based Al-Ain outlet, citing Iraqi government sources, reported that Zaidi told leaders of the Coordination Framework on Oct. 19 that Washington had demanded the closures. 
Baghdad rejected shutting all crossings, then rejected a U.S. proposal to keep only two open, including the Mehran crossing linking Wasit province with Ilam, the report said. U.S. envoy Tom Barrack reportedly told Zaidi the step fell within a policy of economic pressure on Iran.
The closure follows Iraq’s temporary shutdown of the Shalamcheh crossing in September and coincides with U.S.-imposed restrictions on Iranian flights to Iraqi airports.
Iranian Interior Ministry spokesman Ali Zeinivand said on Wednesday that there had been “disruptions to border exchanges with some neighboring countries,” including Pakistan.