BAGHDAD, Feb. 20 (Xinhua) -- The Iraqi authorities decided on Thursday to suspend the entry of Iranian citizens and prevent the travel of Iraqis to Iran after the emergence of infections with the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) in Iran.

Iraqi Interior Minister Yassin al-Yasiri overruled his earlier decision to grant the Iranian citizens visas directly on the border crossings after the news that a number of Iranians have been infected with COVID-19, state-run Iraqi News Agency (INA) reported.

Diplomatic missions were excluded from the ban, INA said.

In earlier measures, the Iraqi authorities decided to tighten health measures at border crossings and allocated a special budget for measures against Coronavirus after cases of this virus were detected in its eastern neighbor Iran.