ERBIL, Kurdistan Region of Iraq – The Kurdistan Region has returned more than 91 tons of spoiled watermelons to Iran in the past 10 days, according to an official from one of the Region’s border crossings with Iran.

Authorities at the crossing "carry out daily inspections for all kinds of fruits that are imported by businessmen to the Kurdistan Region," Head of the Agricultural Quarantine Department at the Kele Border Crossing Sarbast Ahmed told The New Region, adding that in the last 10 days, they “have been able to return over 91 tons of watermelon to Iran that were unfit for consumption."

Iraq and the Kurdistan Region are the second highest importer of Iranian non-oil goods, including agricultural produce, with a total import volume of just under 12 billion US dollars in the year 2024, according to an April report by the Iranian IRGC-affiliated Tasnim News.

In addition to watermelons, The New Region understands that there have been returns of other produce to Iran through the crossing. 

Ahmed noted that the tests that are carried out are physical and rely on the senses like “color, taste and smell.” 

Kele is an official border crossing between the Kurdistan Region and Iran, located around 23 kilometers east of the city of Qaladze, north of Sulaimani. 

Ahmad went on to explain that due to the physical testing they carry out at Kele, compared to previous years, there has been a higher number of spoilt watermelons coming through the crossing that had to be returned.