Security sources have confirmed that four armed skirmishes have taken place between Iraqi and Iranian border guards, following the attempted inspection of the joint oil fields by employees of the Iraqi Oil Ministry.
The chairman of the oil and gas committee in the Iraqi parliament, Ali Hussein Balu, stated that the Iranian violations were repeated for six years over oil fields that traverse the joint borders between the two countries.
When questioned in parliament last week, Iraqi Oil Minister Hussein Al-Shahristani attributed the Iranian violations to the absence of border markers.
Source: Al-Sharq Al-Awsat, London, July 3, 2009
