TRADE ONE-WAY ON IRAQ/IRAN BORDER AT ZURBATIYAH

S E C R E T SECTION 01 OF 02 BAGHDAD 002964

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 09/13/2028
TAGS: ETRD PREL MARR PTER ECON IZ
SUBJECT: TRADE ONE-WAY ON IRAQ/IRAN BORDER AT ZURBATIYAH

Classified By: DCM Patricia A. Butenis for Reasons 1.4 a,b,d,e,g.


1. (C/REL MCFI) Summary: Trade is one way on the Iran-Iraq
border crossing at Zurbitiyah as Iraqi cargo trucks arrive
empty and collect cargo from Iran. Turnaround for cargo
takes about half a day. U.S. military visual inspection for
incoming cargo trucks is 100 percent but still rudimentary.
No explosives have been found at this port of entry (POE).
Pedestrian traffic consists 90 percent of Iranian pilgrims
headed to Shi,a shrines in Najaf and Karbala: 2000 Iranians
are permitted to enter daily as of August 1, 2008. Iraqi
border patrols outside the ports of entry are currently
inadequate due to fuel shortages. End Summary

Iran Exports to Iraq: Trade One Way
--------------


2. (C/REL MCFI) Iran is clearly the beneficiary of trade as
Iraq is only importing Iranian goods at this border crossing,
with no exports to Iran. During an official Embassy visit to
the border on August 21 hosted by Colonel Webb, Task Force
Tusken Commander, we observed three types of traffic
processed at the Port of Entry (POE) between Iran and Iraq at
Zurbatiyah, near Badrah: fuel, non-fuel cargo, and
pedestrians. (Note: This is the only Iran-Iraq POE which
processes all three types of traffic.) Currently about 100
fuel trucks and 200 non-fuel cargo trucks load cargo daily.
Iranian cargo trucks, since the Iran-Iraq war, have not been
allowed to cross the border. Empty Iraqi trucks back up to
the border and load Iranian goods. Recent shipments included
produce (vegetables and fruits),bricks, glass and machinery.
The offloading and turnaround process can take half a day.
Iraqi fuel trucks can also travel inside Iran to refineries
to load fuel. Approximately $50,000 per day in cash is
collected in border-crossing fees. It is not clear how much
of this is making its way to the Ministry of Finance. A new
ramp is under construction to facilitate faster cargo
transfer.

Inspection of All Cargo Vehicles Mandatory
--------------


3. (C/REL MCFI) The U.S. military inspects cargo trucks by
three methods, a back scatter x-ray, trained
explosive-detection dogs, and &tunneling8 down through the
cargo. Currently only one of three back scatter x-ray trucks
is functional so cargo clearance will accelerate when this is
remedied. No explosives, detonators or material for
explosively-formed penetrators (EFPs) have been found at this
POE. To virtually eliminate any possibility of lethal
accelerant smuggling and to improve the efficiency of cargo
transfer, the CF are building a multi-million dollar cargo
trans-load area (CTLA) for the cross-load of goods with fifty
truck bays on each side. The CTLA includes a dock, five
meters from the border, where Iranian and Iraqi trucks will
back up to the dock on their own side of the border and
transfer commodities under the watchful eyes of officials.
Completion of the project is scheduled for December 2008.

Pedestrian Crossing: 90 Percent Iranian Pilgrims
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4. (S/REL NCFI) Iraqi officials process pedestrians via the
&PISCES8 (Personnel Identification Secure Comparison and
Evaluation System) database. (The original development of
the PISCES system was financed by the DOS Terrorist
Interdiction Program (TIP).) The U.S. military also checks
all military-age Iranian males between 16-45 crossing the
border using a biometric system called BATS (Biometric
Automated Toolset). It collects facial characteristics,
fingerprints and iris photos, then checks the information
against U.S. defense, criminal and intelligence databases.
Information is routinely shared between the two systems. In
particular, derogatory information collected on BATS is
given to the GOI for use in the PISCES system. The process
has led to several notable detainments and serves as a strong
deterrent to criminal elements attempting to cross the
border. It typically takes a pedestrian about four hours to
cross. Ninety per cent of the pedestrian traffic from Iran
consists of pilgrims visiting the Shi,a shrines in Najaf and
Karbala; several we saw were infirm or elderly. Before the
U.S military provided water and shelter at the POE, several
died of heat stroke while waiting to cross. As of August 1,
2008, 2000 Iranians are allowed to enter daily.

Iraqi Border Patrols Inadequate
--------------


5. (C/REL MCFI) Outside the POEs, U.S. military briefers
informed us that Iraqi border patrols have insufficient fuel
for their vehicles to adequately patrol the border. People

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and cargo are likely coming in across the vast border by
circumventing the POEs. Lack of electricity is also a
problem, as Iraqi border checkpoint buildings outside POEs
must run generators, further reducing fuel availability for
patrols. U.S military briefers noted the situation may
improve with increased fuel availability and cooler weather.



6. (C/REL MCFI) COMMENT: Current cargo inspections procedures
are rudimentary and could be bypassed, for instance with the
right bribe, but there is nothing to suggest at this time
that there are significant munitions transiting this POE.

CROCKER