ERBIL, Kurdistan Region – Iraq’s development of the Umm Qasr port near Basra is “a threat and a warning” to Iran, a senior Iranian official said Monday as Iraq looks forward to unveiling a larger port next year. “The country is planning the development of Umm Qasr with the cooperation of Italy, so that it can compete with Fujairah and Jabal Ali and Iraq can be connected to Turkey, Syria, and the Mediterranean, a route that is parallel to Iran and is actually a threat and a warning to our country,” Javad Hedayati, the irector-general of transit office of Iran Road Maintenance and Transportation Organization, said during a conference. Umm Qasr is Iraq’s main seaport and is located approximately 70 kilometers south of the city of Basra. Iraq in December announced that it will complete the grand port of Faw nearly a year ahead of schedule, with the port set to be completed by the end of 2024 as opposed to 2025 due to the rapid progression of the project’s building phase. The Faw port will be deeper than Qasr and allow larger container ships to dock at its harbor, bringing about greater profit for Iraq. In 2021, AFP reported about the rife corruption in Umm Qasr port and said that pro-Iranian armed groups dominate the customs department of the port and supervise the security of the area.
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