Iraq's border region has been targeted by Syria in the past -- as the Syrian conflict escalated in 2012, there was at least one instance where rockets fired from Syria landed in Al-Qaim.
Mendes Junior projects in Iraq included the constructions of the Baghdad-Al Qaim-Akashat railway, the Iraq Expressway Number One (the largest controlled-access highway in the Middle East) and a pumping station on the Euphrates River.