TEHRAN (Iran News) – President Hassan Rouhani of Iran in a telephone conversation with his counterpart in Iraq, Barham Salih on July 31 stressed the need to boost Tehran-Baghdad relations and cooperation as well as speeding up the implementation of previously signed agreements.
Congratulating his Iraqi counterpart on the occasion of Eid al-Adha (Feast of the Sacrifice), President Rouhani referred to the long history of bilateral relations between the two neighboring states and hoped that the two nations will have more interactions after the coronavirus pandemic is controlled, IRNA reported.
President Rouhani referred to the recent visit by Iraqi Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi to Iran as a positive step and an opportunity to review issues of mutual interest.
Kadhimi, who assumed his country’s premiership in May, visited Iran on July 21 heading a high-ranking economic and political delegation and held separate meetings with his Iranian counterpart as well as the Leader of the Islamic Revolution.
In his telephone call with his Iraqi counterpart, President Rouhani expressed hope that the decisions and agreements made during Kadhimi’s visit to Tehran would be implemented as soon as possible with the efforts of the Iranian and Iraqi officials to further strengthen Tehran-Baghdad economic relations and trade exchanges.
According to Hossein Amir-Abdollahian, special advisor to Iran’s Parliament speaker, the value of Tehran-Baghdad’s annual trade relations stood at 14 billion dollars,
“The Islamic Republic of Iran is determined to develop all-out bilateral relations with Iraq, and it is ready to cooperate and share experiences with Iraq in the path of fighting coronavirus,” the Iranian president told his Iraqi counterpart on the phone.
President Barham Salih, for his part, congratulated Eid al-Adha to the Iranian government and nation, and said, “The manifestation of this great festivity is the unity of Muslims and we hope the unity and cooperation among regional countries would further expand given the current conditions of the world and spread of coronavirus.”
He appreciated Iran’s supports and assistance for Iraq in its efforts to control the COVID-19 spread.
Salih further evaluated the Iraqi prime minister’s visit to Iran as positive and noted, “Expansion of all-out relations with Iran is an unavoidable principle in Iraq’s foreign policy.”
- source : Iran Daily, Irannews
