Iranian Speaker, Iraqi President Urge Closer Economic Ties

TEHRAN (defapress) – Iranian Parliament Speaker Ali Larijani and Iraq’s new president, Barham Salih, held talks on a range of issues, including ways to boost economic relations between the two neighboring countries.

News ID: 73779

Date: 18 November 2018 - 11:07

During the meeting held in Tehran on Saturday evening, Larijani highlighted the importance of Iran-Iraq cooperation and said while the two countries are “naturally connected”, certain hostile countries are making futile attempts to separate them.

He further pointed to cooperation between the two countries in the area of energy and said Iranian companies can contribute to Iraq’s reconstruction in the post-Daesh era.

To that end, there is a necessity to facilitate banking cooperation between the two nations, the parliament speaker added.

Salih, for his part, urged closer ties between Tehran and Baghdad and said Iraq is now in a new stage and can be an active player in regional affairs.

Salih arrived in Tehran on Saturday as part of a regional tour to hold talks with his Iranian counterpart and a number of other top officials.

On October 3, Iraq’s parliament elected Kurdish politician Salih as president. He immediately picked a prime minister, ending months of deadlock after a national election in May.

Salih, 58, is a British-educated engineer who has held office in both the Iraqi federal and Kurdish regional governments.

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