TEHRAN - Iranian Vice President Es’haq Jahangiri said on Sunday that despite the U.S. animosity, Iran and Iraq are seriously determined to expand cooperation.

“Good agreements in various areas have been signed between the two countries. Fortunately, Iran and Iraq have common view on expanding cooperation,” he said during a meeting with Iraqi Prime Minister Adel Abdul Mahdi and his accompanying team in Tehran.

Jahangiri added that Iran will stand beside the Iraqi people and government in reconstructing their country.

He also said, “We should not allow sanctions impede expansion of relations between the two countries. Sanctions cause restrictions, however, they create many opportunities to expand relations.”

Jahangiri also said it is necessary to put banking cooperation on agenda.

Elsewhere in his talks, the vice president said Iranian technical engineering companies have good knowledge and experience in different fields and their presence in Iraqi tenders can help bring prices down by foreign contractors.  

Speaking at a joint session of the two countries’ private sector and officials at Iran’s chamber of commerce on Sunday, the vice president also said Iran intends to increase its economic and trade ties with Iraq to 20 billion dollars by 2020.

Elsewhere, he noted that Iran and Iraq’s security and development are intertwined. “The Islamic Republic of Iran considers Iraq’s development and security as its own.”

The vice president also greeted Iraq for defeating the Takfiri terrorist groups including Daesh, saying, “This was not only a defeat for terrorist groups it also meant a defeat for their supporters.”

For his part, Abdul Mahdi said that his visit to Tehran shows Iraq’s determination in expanding relations.

He said, “Iraq does not want to be part of the sanctions regime against the Islamic Republic of Iran.”

The prime minister added Baghdad will not let any aggression against Iran from the Iraqi soil.

“Iraq seeks to have best relations with its neighbors and makes efforts to bridge differences,” the prime minister remarked.

The Iraqi prime minister arrived in Tehran on Saturday. He met with Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei, President Hassan Rouhani and Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif. Abdul Mahdi was accompanied by ministers of oil, finance, foreign affairs, planning, commerce, energy as well as national security advisor, army chief of staff, deputy interior minister, and a number of parliamentarians.

NA/PA