War disrupts life on the Iraq‑Iran border, isolating families and stifling trade

War disrupts life on the Iraq‑Iran border, isolating families and stifling trade War and heavy Iranian security along the Iran-Iraq Kurdish border are cutting families off and crushing daily life, according to people reached by The Associated Press By SAMYA KULLAB Associated Press March 30, 2026, 4:21 AM HALABJA, Iraq -- To speak with his mother inside Iran, Yaser Fattahi waits in self-exile in Iraq for brief calls arranged by a cousin back home who travels close to the border between the neighboring countries where he can pick up a signal to connect them. Fattahi fled to neighboring Iraq in December, fearing arrest over his participation in anti-government protests in Iran . A trained nurse, he was caring for wounded protesters in their homes so they wouldn't have to seek care in state-run hospitals that were under surveillance. Now, as the war intensifies, he worries constantly for his mother’s safety amid U.S. and Israeli bombardment . The war has disrupted telecommunications and concentrated Iranian forces along the frontier, choking off communications and trade for many. When Fattahi's cousin can make it to the border, he calls over WhatsApp using one phone with an Iraqi SIM card and then connects to Fattahi's mother using another phone with the Iranian cell network. “The calls last a minute or two,” Fattahi said from Sulaymaniyah, in Iraq’s Kurdish region along the Iranian border. “She tells me to take care of myself, and that they are okay.” Four days have passed since the last call. Fattahi keeps glancing at his phone. “I thought he would call today but he hasn’t,” he said. The border between Iran and northern Iraq's Kurdish region has long been porous, alive with family ties, trade and smuggling. Now families are cut off from loved ones, and traders — even smugglers — hesitate to cross. Iranian forces have built up their presence to prevent incursions by Iranian Kurdish militant groups. Those who travel close to the border to pick up Iraqi cell signals risk...