FNA- Iran's consulate in Erbil said all roads linking the country to the Iraqi Kurdistan region are open and being used by passengers and traders.

"All roads to the Iraqi Kurdistan region (Tamarchin, Bashmaq and Parvizkhan) and the border markets (Kileh, Siranband, Shoushmi and Sheikh Seleh) are open and traffic and economic exchanges are in progress with easy access," a statement by the consulate said on Wednesday.

Iran had in September ordered its state and private sector companies to ban cargoes of fuel products heading to or coming from the Iraqi Kurdistan Region after the latter held an independence referendum in opposition to Iraq's laws.

The Iranian consulate in Erbil announced earlier this month that Iran reopened its border crossings with the Iraqi Kurdistan region in Tamarchin and Parviz Khan, which were closed after the September 25 independence referendum in the region.

The decision came after Iraq extended its flight ban to the breakaway region until February 28: the limitations concern Kurdistan's Erbil and Sulaymaniyeh airports.

Iran previously imposed a fuel embargo on the autonomous region, banning the trade of fuel products, in terms of both imports and exports, with the Iraqi Kurdistan.

Meanwhile, military, diplomatic, humanitarian and UN flights to the area are still permitted, but subject to approval by the Iraqi government.

The situation in the region escalated after 90 percent of Kurds voted in September in favor of the autonomy's secession from Iraq. Baghdad, for its part, has called the referendum illegal and launched a military operation to recapture the Kurdish-held disputed areas of the country, while also imposing sanctions on Kurdish authorities.