TEHRAN — Mehdi Safari, the Deputy Foreign Minister for Economic Diplomacy, has said it is possible to expand trade between Tehran and Baghdad by two times provided that the existing border problems are resolved, IRNA reported on Wednesday.

Safari, a career diplomat, made the comments in the seventh meeting of the Foreign Economic Relations Coordination Headquarters. The agenda of the meeting was “reviewing the latest economic relations with Iraq".

The new Iranian administration is bent on developing economic relations with neighbors. It has adopted “the neighbors first policy”.
 
During the meeting, Safari presented a report on his recent visits to Baghdad and the Iraqi Kurdistan region to identify and remove obstacles to increase economic relations and elaborate on the conditions governing bilateral relations, and a possibility to double trade ties.

The participants put forward their suggestions at the meeting.

It is the first time in the history of the Islamic Revolution that the Foreign Ministry has created a department for economic diplomacy. Safari has served as Iran’s ambassador to China and Russia. He also served as Iran’s special envoy for the Caspian Sea legal regime.