Iraq's Popular Mobilisation Forces have crossed into Iran in what Iranian state media's own Arabic-language channel, Al-Alam, described as a "loyalty campaign." The convoy departed Basra in southern Iraq and entered Khuzestan province through the Shalamcheh border crossing, carrying fighters in military attire alongside vehicles draped in Iraqi and Hezbollah flags. [1]

Al-Alam reported the convoy carried 70 tonnes of food and medical supplies, though Iranian officials have repeatedly stated the country faces no shortage of essential goods. [1] The framing as humanitarian aid fools no one. PMF units have been documented operating alongside the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps since January. [2]

On Saturday, a U.S. airstrike struck the Shalamcheh crossing directly, hitting the passenger hall. The Iraqi Border Ports Authority chief confirmed one Iraqi killed and five others wounded who received treatment in Iran. [3] The crossing, which handles more than 300 trucks daily, was temporarily shut before passenger operations resumed. [3]

A political analyst quoted by Asharq Al-Awsat characterized the strike as designed to "isolate Iraq from Iran," after diplomatic approaches failed. [3] Following the attack, militia factions reportedly shifted to smaller vehicles to evade aerial targeting while continuing cross-border movement. [3]

The war's third front is no longer theoretical. It runs through a border town where Iraqi forces once used chemical weapons in the 1980s.

-- YOSEF STERN, Jerusalem