Iran, Iraq Pledge to Speed up Implementing Signed Deals

During the phone conversation with Abdul Mahdi on Tuesday, President Rouhani termed relationship between Iran and Iraq as “strategic, historic”.

He said, “The amicable relationship will benefit both countries and will not harm any country in the region.”

He pointed to the recent achievements of his travel to neighboring Iraq and said, “Islamic Republic of Iran is ready to implement important and historic agreements of this trip that can bring about a considerable jump in relationship between the two countries.”

Referring to recent heavy rains and the huge amount of water entered into Arvand River, he underlined the importance of accelerating dredging the river for both countries.

For his part, Iraqi Prime Minister Adil Abdul Mahdi congratulated Nowruz, the first day of year in the Persian Calendar marking the start of Iranian New Year, and expressed his deep concern over the deadly floods in Iran.

All agreements will be implemented soon, he said, adding, “Dredging the Arvand River and removing charges on Visa will be made operational.”

Last week, Caretaker of the Trade Promotion Organization of Iran (TPO) Mohammad Reza Mowdoudi reassured that Tehran and Baghdad enjoy the capacity to meet the $20bln bilateral trade objective.

The Iranian official added that LPG export to Iraq, electricity contracts between the two countries, tourism and different services have to be born in mind when it comes to relations with Baghdad.

“Currently Iran is exporting $13 billion to Iraq, including 8.5 to 9 billion dollars of export of goods and commodities; the rest comes from export of technical and engineering services, tourism, and electricity,”  Mowdoudi highlighted.

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