TEHRAN – Secretary general of Iran-Iraq Joint Chamber of Commerce said Iran’s exports to Iraq are following an upward trend after the recent unrests in the Arab country eased, Tasnim news agency reported on Saturday.

“Exports to Iraq fell to $500 million in [the Iranian calendar months of] Mehr and Aban (September 23-November 21, 2019) due to Arba'een holidays and the recent unrests in the country, however, since [the ninth calendar month of] Azar (November 22-December 21, 2019) the exports got back on track,” Seyed Hamid Hosseini said.

Iran exported $6.3 billion worth of commodities to Iraq during the first nine months of the current Iranian calendar year (March 21-December 21) and the volume of trade between the two countries has been like the previous year, he noted.

According to the official, the Iran-Iraq Joint Chamber of Commerce has been recently following new strategies to keep the volume of trade between the two neighbors at a satisfactory level, among which focusing on the Kurdistan region can be mentioned.

Hosseini has recently said that banking relations between Iran and Iraq will get much better if the Americans leave the Arab country and their interference ends.

The economic and political relations between Iran and Iraq have increased significantly in the past few years and the two neighbors are seeking ways to facilitate financial transactions and boost their trade ties.

The number of exchanged trade delegations between the two countries has increased drastically in the past two years and they have held several business forums and joint committee meetings.

The two countries’ officials have constantly stated that the two sides have it on agenda to boost their mutual trade to $20 billion by 2021.

EF/MA