TEHRAN – Governor of the Central Bank of Iraq Mustafa Ghaleb visited Iran along with a high-ranking delegation, aiming to develop banking and monetary relations between the two countries.

During his visit, he met with Governor of the Central Bank of Iran (CBI) Ali Saleh-Abadi in Tehran on Thursday to explore avenues of expanding monetary relations between the two countries, the CBI portal reported.

In the meeting, Ghaleb referred to the close relations between the two countries in the fields of banking and finance and called for removing obstacles in the way of expanding mutual cooperation.

During his visit to Tehran, Ghaleb was accompanied by the managing director of the Trade Bank of Iraq and the country’s advisor to the prime minister.

The official also met with Iran’s First Vice President Mohammad Mokhber, during which he expressed gratitude for the serious determination of the Iranian government for developing relations with its neighbors, stressing the need for signing memorandums of understanding for cooperation between the two countries' central banks.

Mokhber for his part said that the central banks of Iran and Iraq should play a key role in facilitating the financial affairs between the two countries.

He underlined developing relations between Iran and Iraq, especially in the financial and banking sectors, noting that Tehran welcomes the comprehensive expansion of relations with Baghdad.

Emphasizing that interaction with neighbors is one of the priorities of Iran's foreign policy he said:  "Among the neighbors of the Islamic Republic of Iran, Iraq has a special position due to deep religious, cultural and historical ties, with Iran."

Referring to the serious determination of the two countries in developing all-out ties, especially banking, economic and industrial ones, Mokhber also stressed the need to accelerate the implementation of the already signed MOUs between the two countries.

He called for boosting interactions between the central banks of the Islamic Republic of Iran and the Republic of Iraq.

EF/MA

Photo: CBI Governor Ali Saleh-Abadi (R) and Central Bank of Iraq’s Governor Mustafa Ghaleb