Iran Eyes $20bln Annual Trade with Iraq
TEHRAN (Tasnim) – Iranian first vice-president called for a major boost to the economic ties between Iran and Iraq, saying the two neighboring countries should draw up a plan to raise the volume of their annual trade exchanges to $20bln.
Citing the volume of Iran-Iraq trade over the past Iranian year (ended on March 20, 2014), which stood at $12 billion, Eshaq Jahangiri said that figure does not match the enormous economic potential of the two nations.
In a Monday meeting with Iraq’s Deputy Prime Minister Rowsch Nuri Shaways here in Tehran, Jahangiri said Iran and Iraq can “complement each other’s capacities and capabilities in the economic sphere.”
The visiting Iraqi official, for his part, said upgrading Tehran-Baghdad commercial ties requires “meticulous planning”, adding that expert delegations from the two sides have already achieved good results in this regard.
Earlier this month, the Islamic Republic finalized an agreement to supply natural gas to neighboring Iraq.
Iran’s Deputy Oil Minister for International and Commercial Affairs Ali Majedi said on May 5 that following the progress made in negotiations between the two countries over the deal, gas exports to Iraq will start this Iranian year (March 21, 2014 - March 20, 2015).
Iranian and Iraqi oil ministers on July 21, 2013, signed the first deal to transfer Iran’s natural gas to two Iraqi power plants.
The project is aimed at supplying Al-Baghdad and Al-Mansouriyah power plants in Iraq with 25 million cubic meters (mcm) per day of natural gas.
