Iraq, Syria Discuss Plans for Post-ISIS Border Security

Two Countries Once Again Have a Common Border

For the past few years, long-standing neighbors Iraq and Syria have had a common border only on paper. In practice, ISIS has controlled materially the whole border, with Kurdish factions holding a bit of territory in the far north.

The southernmost border crossing, at al-Tanf, ultimately fell out of ISIS control, however, giving a US-backed rebel force control inside Syria, linking two mostly empty parts of desert in a non-ISIS manner. Syrian Foreign Minister Walid al-Muallem is in Iraq today to talk about the future.

That future includes the possibility that the Iraqi and Syrian governments might ultimately end up in control of the Iraq-Syria border, and that between them they might want to negotiate some sort of deal on common border security.

Both sides are eager to hammer out something on the post-ISIS border situation, and while details are still pretty scant, the Iraqi government issued a statement saying it was vital to make such a deal as “our heroic forces get closer to the border with Syria.”

Author: Jason Ditz

Jason Ditz is Senior Editor for Antiwar.com. He has 20 years of experience in foreign policy research and his work has appeared in The American Conservative, Responsible Statecraft, Forbes, Toronto Star, Minneapolis Star-Tribune, Providence Journal, Washington Times, and the Detroit Free Press.