Iranian president to visit Iraq with political and economic issues on the agenda

Tabnak – In the latest sign of growing ties between Iran and Iraq regardless of the US sanctions, Iranian president will visit Baghdad tomorrow for the first time during his presidency. The visit is expected to boost bilateral relations in various political, economic and security fields.

Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif, who is now in Baghdad for preparations of President Hassan Rouhani’s trip, says the upcoming visit by Rouhani to Iraq — the president’s first — will be the beginning of a new chapter in Tehran-Baghdad relations.

“Mr. Rouhani is traveling to Iraq for the first time in his presidency, and we consider the trip a new start in our relations with Iraq,” Zarif told the Iraqi al-Forat satellite TV network in an interview aired on Saturday.

Zarif referred to the measures of cooperation that are scheduled to be bilaterally approved during the Iranian president’s visit to Iraq and called them “historic.” New cooperation, he said, will be in the areas of transit, oil, joint industrial work, and the dredging of Arvand River (Shatt al-Arab). The Iranian president will be starting his three-day visit to Iraq on Monday.

Zarif, who arrived in Iraq on Saturday evening, said Iran and Iraq shared not just a border but historical commonalities as well as interests. “We plan to use those commonalities to advance the joint interests of both countries as well as those of the region,” he said.

The Iranian foreign minister also said Iran was seeking to send a message [to the region] during President Rouhani’s trip to Iraq. “In Iraq, we will be sending a message of regional cooperation. We don’t see Iraq as a place of conflict [with Iran’s regional rivals]; we see it as a place of cooperation with regional countries,” Foreign Minister Zarif said.

Meanwhile, it is reported that Rouhani is going to hold a meeting with prominent Shiite cleric Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani during his stay in Iraq. Iranian Ambassador to Iraq Iraj Masjedi was quoted by Iranian media as saying that Rouhani will be meeting Ayatollah Sistani during his visit to Iraq.

The Iranian president’s visit would come against the backdrop of Tehran’s efforts to boost its foreign trade in the US sanctions era. Iraq’s foreign minister said recently that his country is “not obliged” to abide by sanctions imposed by the US against Iran and would be pursuing options to continue bilateral trade.

President of Iraq Barham Salih made a visit to Tehran in November 2018 with a ranking delegation for a series of political and economic talks.

Speaking at a joint press conference with his Iraqi counterpart at that time, Rouhani said the value of trade and economic interaction between Tehran and Baghdad stood at around $12 billion, adding that the two neighbors have the potential for a $20-billion trade target.

Last month, governors of the central banks of Iran and Iraq signed an agreement to develop a payment mechanism aimed at facilitating banking ties between the two neighboring countries.

According to governor of the Central Bank of Iran Abdolnaser Hemmati, Iran is going to open euro and dinar-based accounts to process transactions for trade in oil and gas.