Ammon News - AMMONNEWS - The Iraqi ambassador to Jordan, Jawad Abbas, has said that transport and trade links between his country and neighbouring Jordan have stopped entirely due to a large-scale military operation in Anbar province against Islamic State militants.

In remarks to Anadolu agency on Wednesday, Abbas said there was no official decision taken by either the governments of Jordan or Iraq to close the border between the two countries; however, traffic was stopped for both individuals and goods due to ongoing confrontations between the Iraqi army and ISIS in Anbar province, which has increased security risks in the area.

The Iraqi government on Tuesday announced the beginning of a military operation to retake Anbar province from Islamic State militants more than a week after the group seized its provincial capital, Ramadi.

Meanwhile, the Jordanian Department of Statistics said that Jordan's exports to Iraq recorded a decline of 17.5 per cent during the first two months of this year, reaching $154 million compared to $186.57 million recorded during the same period last year.

Jordan's exports to Iraq exceeded $1 billion annually prior to the deterioration of the security situation in Iraq over the past year.

Abbas pointed out that the Iraqi army is currently engaged in a "large-scale military operation" in Anbar area using sophisticated and modern weapons against ISIS.

He noted that after regaining control of Anbar, traffic and trade between the two countries will return to normal.

Abbas said that the Iraqi government received pledges from Jordanian counterparts a few days ago to protect and secure land routes linking Amman and Baghdad, in coordination and cooperation with the Iraqi side.

The Iraqi ambassador did not give details about the nature of Jordan's pledges, and only said that high level officials expressed the will to secure the road that links the Kingdom with Iraq.

*Middle East Monitor