BAGHDAD (Dispatches) – 
Protests resumed in Iraq’s southeastern Maysan province on Sunday, with truck drivers, customs brokers and border workers demanding the immediate reopening of the Al-Shaib crossing with Iran, shut for more than two weeks and crippling livelihoods dependent on cross-border trade.
The crossing, known as Chazzabah on the Iranian side, was closed by order of Prime Minister Ali Faleh al-Zaidi on Oct. 21. Baghdad has cited technical and security reasons, but Iraqi Foreign Minister Fuad Hussein said Washington had asked Baghdad to shut all but two of its border crossings with Iran. 
The closure has hit Maysan hardest, where local officials estimate some 4,000 people depend directly or indirectly on the crossing for income.
Sunday’s demonstrations unfolded along the Ghazilah road leading to the border and near oil company offices in the Bazargan oil fields. Protesters chanted slogans calling for the crossing’s immediate reopening, stating that alternative routes through Shalamcheh or Zurbatiyah have failed to offset higher transport costs and disrupted supply chains into Amarah. 
The crossing is the primary entry point for most goods and foodstuffs into the province, and its shutdown has contributed to a sharp rise in local prices.
The Badr parliamentary bloc strongly criticized U.S. pressure to seal the borders with Iran, demanding the immediate and unconditional reopening of the crossing. The faction warned that such agendas target southern regions and constitute a blatant violation of national sovereignty. 
It denounced the continued pressure on border crossings in the southern provinces as an unacceptable double standard requiring urgent reconsideration, and urged the cabinet to prioritize public welfare and national independence over external demands.
Maysan Provincial Council chief Mustafa Dair, who had threatened civil disobedience and warned the province could be “cut off” from the rest of Iraq, faced an investigation ordered by the prime minister over his remarks. 
The Badr bloc defended Dair, saying his position was an effort to voice residents’ demands and defend their interests, and warned that keeping the crossing shut without a clear solution could widen protests and erode trust between the province and Baghdad.
Maysan Governor Habib Dhahir Al-Fartousi also urged the prime minister to reopen the crossing, while tribal sheikhs in the province described the closure as unjustified and harmful, attributing rising food prices to the shutdown and demanding reopening as soon as possible.