Iranian Soldiers Enter Iraqi Oilfield

Iranian soldiers have crossed into a disputed southern oilfield, according to an Iraqi senior official. Despite previously denying the reports, Deputy Interior Minister Ahmed Ali al-Khafaji said the invasion at the Fakka oilfield, southeast of Baghdad, was the latest in a series this week. Khafaji told Reuters that at 3:30 p.m. on Thursday, 11 Iranian soldiers raised their country’s flag at the oil well, where they allegedly remain. Tehran did not make any official statements about the incident, which caused oil prices to rise after it was first reported on al-Arabiya television. According to Khafaji, Iran and Iraq’s respective oil ministers reached an agreement to resolve the disputed land issue diplomatically, saying they had taken no military action against the Iranian soldiers. An anonymous Iraqi security source in the province in which the Fakka oilfield is location confirmed the Iranian troops’ entrance, but said they withdrew after several hours. A source from the Iranian embassy in Baghdad, however, said he had no information about the alleged incursion, adding, “If such a thing had happened, they would have told us.”