Iran to Pay for Basic Commodities Through Iraqi Banks
IRAN NEWS ECONOMIC NEWS
TEHRAN – Head of Iran-Iraq Joint Chamber of Commerce, Yahya al-Eshaq, said on Wednesday that Iran will pay for basic commodities being purchased from different countries via Iraqi banks as per an agreement with Iraqi Government on payment of arrears to Iran.
The Iraqi debts to Iran are for the country’s energy imports including electricity and gas from Iran.
Speaking to IRNA correspondent, Al Eshaq said that Iraqi Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi agreed to pay arrears to Iran during his visit to Iran last week.
Noting that the two countries are determined to increase trade to $20 billion a year, he said that during al-Kadhimi’s visit, the two sides agreed on completing Shalamche-Basra railway as well as dredging up the bordering Arvand River.
He said that both Tehran and Baghdad have underlined the need to continue with trade exchanges despite the lockdown in the aftermath of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic, observing all the protective health protocols.
The Iraqi prime minister visited Iran last week as his first foreign visit after being appointed to the post which indicated the significance of relations between the two countries.
On Friday an Iranian trade official claimed a company has been established in Iraq which will make purchases on behalf of the Iranian government to settle Baghdad’s accumulated debts to Iran amounting to $5 billion.
The secretary-general of the Iran-Iraq chamber of commerce Hamid Hosseini told Fararu website in Tehran that the money in question is deposited in Trade Bank of Iraq (TBI). He added that based on a mutual agreement Iran will provide the new company with list of “goods, commodities and raw materials” it needs, and the company will buy the goods and ship it to Iran.
