#1 Where do you stand on the American action, knowing that Kurdish sources have confirmed to Niqash that the prisoner is a member of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard?
We cannot confirm the accuracy of that statement, but we know that this Iranian citizen is a trader and was representing a trade delegation from Kermanshah Province in Iran.
What is the extent of the losses suffered by the region due to the border closure with Iran?
The annual trade exchange between the region and Iran is estimated to be about 800 million dollars. This includes food, medical supplies and construction supplies that used to come in from Iran. Since the Iranians closed the border, we estimate losses of a million dollars a day, suffered both by the Kurdish regional government and local merchants, since Iran - due to its proximity to the region - was the biggest point of trade for the Sulaymaniyah region in particular, and the rest of the region in general.
If the Kurds are idiotic enough to host Iranian operatives, then they deserve what they get. The border closure may be a punitive measure by Iran but the loss of trade certainly seems to be more on the Iranian side of the equation.
I suspect the true importance of having the border open was so that Kurds could support their PJAK elements within Iran. Moreover, if Kurdistan is losing one million dollars each day, the loses on Iran's side must be far more substantial. Please remind me to feel bad about this at sometime in the distant future. |
