Iraq’s transport minister has said that the government has refused a railway project linking the country with the Gulf states in order to protect Iraqi ports, Aswat al-Iraq has reported. “The reason behind Iraq’s refusal of the railway link with the Gulf states is to protect Iraqi ports, because if the country is linked with the Gulf states and Iran by railways, the Iraqi ports shall die,” Amer Abdul-Jabbar said. “If we agree on the railway linkage, all goods would be transported from the Arabian Peninsula to all Iraqi provinces, through dry channels, hampering ships to reach Iraqi ports.”