NEW YORK (Reuters) - The Pentagon is preparing to build a military base near the Iraq-Iran border to try to curtail the flow of advanced Iranian weaponry to Shiite militants across Iraq, the Wall Street Journal reported on Monday in its online edition.

Quoting Maj. Gen. Rick Lynch, the commander of the Army's 3rd Infantry Division, the Journal said the Pentagon also plans to build fortified checkpoints on major highways leading from the Iranian border to Baghdad, and install X-ray machines and explosives-detecting sensors at the only formal border crossing between the two countries.

Pentagon spokesman Bryan Whitman said U.S. commanders have previously spoken about need for heightened border security but declined to provide details about the base.

"I think what it demonstrates is the importance of border security," Whitman told reporters.

"We've said all along that border security is important in making sure that along these long and somewhat porous borders, that you're able to provide the type of integrity that you need to as a nation-state," he said.

The base will be located about four miles from the Iranian border and will be used for at least two years, according to the report. U.S. officials told the paper it is unclear whether it will be among the small number of facilities that would remain in Iraq after any future large-scale U.S. withdrawal.