TEHRAN (Iran News) Jahanbakhsh Sanjabi Shirazi, speaking to ILNA, stated that the borders between Iran and Iraq are operating normally. “Apart from a brief three-day closure, there has been no significant disruption in trade activities,” he said.

According to Shirazi, the field observations show that the ongoing conflict has not had a noticeable impact on exports to or imports from Iraq. “Most of our land borders with Iraq are active, and trade between the two nations is continuing as usual,” he affirmed.

When asked about trade volume, Shirazi explained that Iran’s customs office publishes official export and import statistics every three months. Therefore, updated data for the current period has not yet been released.

However, he acknowledged that there was a temporary decline in trade in early May due to a reduction in available trucks, increased transportation fees, and higher freight costs. “Despite this brief downturn, trade activity rebounded later in May and early June, even surpassing the same 45-day period of last year,” he noted.

Shirazi concluded by saying that the official customs data to be published in early July 2025 will confirm this recovery in trade between Iran and Iraq.

According to Shirazi, the field observations show that the ongoing conflict has not had a noticeable impact on exports to or imports from Iraq. “Most of our land borders with Iraq are active, and trade between the two nations is continuing as usual,” he affirmed.

When asked about trade volume, Shirazi explained that Iran’s customs office publishes official export and import statistics every three months. Therefore, updated data for the current period has not yet been released.

However, he acknowledged that there was a temporary decline in trade in early May due to a reduction in available trucks, increased transportation fees, and higher freight costs. “Despite this brief downturn, trade activity rebounded later in May and early June, even surpassing the same 45-day period of last year,” he noted.

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TEHRAN (Iran News) Day by day, new areas of cooperation are being added to the relationship between the two neighboring countries, President Pezeshkian said during his joint press briefing with visiting Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed al-Sudani on Wednesday.

In his remarks, the president expressed hope that the two would accelerate the development of relations, leveraging the confidence built between the two countries.

President Pezeshkian also referred to Iraq as Iran’s strategic partner and an important neighbor.” Iran-Iraq”

He emphasized that Tehran seeks peace, stability, and development for its surrounding area; hence, Iran attaches great importance to stability in Iraq and the welfare of the Iraqi people.

The president underlined that Iraq is experiencing significant progress after overcoming terrorism.

Al-Sudani arrived in the Iranian capital on Wednesday morning to hold talks with the Iranian president on various regional and bilateral issues.

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In a meeting with three trade delegations from different provinces of  Iraq, Ale-Ishaq said that the condition of Iran and Iraq is today in a way that it paints a good picture for future economic activists of the two states. He added that Iraq in recent years has been Iran’s first or second trade partner, adding that in the next 15 years, market of the two countries will create a big environment for their economic activists and any kind of trade and economic project will be possible. He reiterated that therefore anyone starts faster and becomes pioneer, he will be the most successful one in 15 years.

He pointed to the strong determination of senior officials of the two states for broadening economic ties, adding that in some certain periods, the trade volume between Iran and Iraq has hit $13b and this figure is to be increased to $30b, because in different industrial sectors of Iran and Iraq’s market this capacity exists for boosting trade.

Ale-Ishaq added that currently there is no balance in trade between the two countries and export is in favor of Iran and both sides have agreed to balance the trade and this is good opportunity for traders of the two countries.

Meanwhile Head of Iraq’s Al-Amarah Chamber of Commerce Mr. Ala Vali Ali, for his part, said that Iran ranks third in earmarking trade tariffs, adding that therefore there is a tough competition between Iran and China and urged Iran to earmark more trade tariffs which will help the trade relation between Iran and Iraq to increase.

He stressed that Iraqi traders expect the trade volume with Iran to exceed $24b, adding that materialization of this requires strong determination from both sides especially from Iran’s private sector because he believes private sector in Iran is the main actor in broadening economic ties.

He reiterated that the goal behind the visit of this delegation to Iran is to remove obstacles in way of trade between the two states as well as acquaintance of Iraqis with Iranian companies and their products.

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The conference was attended by senior officials from the two sides including Head of the Federation of Iraqi Chambers of Commerce Abdul Razzaq al- Zuhairi and Head of Iran Chamber of Commerce, Industries, Mines and Agriculture (ICCIMA) Gholam-Hossein Shafeie, the ICCIMA portal reported.

Head of Iran-Iraq Joint Chamber of Commerce Yahya Al-e-Eshaq, and Head of the Iranian Parliament’s Economic Committee Mohammadreza Pour-Ebrahimi were also among the attendees to this conference.

During the event, Zuhairi pointed to the close cultural ties between the two countries and noted that familiarity and having 1,400 kilometers of shared borders can greatly support the development of the two countries’ economic relations based on common interests.

“Iraq’s annual trade is a large figure, of which we hope Iran will have a big share,” the official stressed.

He further expressed satisfaction with the signing of the mentioned MOU, saying: “We are very pleased to sign a joint memorandum to reduce barriers to economic cooperation between the two countries. The aim is to reduce the problems in the way of the activities of the two countries’ businessmen by establishing a joint arbitration panel.”

“It is natural to have disputes in trade and we are expected to make a significant contribution to the development of economic relations by establishing this joint arbitration panel,” he added.

Elsewhere in this gathering, Shafeie delivered a speech, saying: “We have come together in this conference to use the existing opportunities to develop economic relations for a better future. I need to thank Mr. Abdul Razzaq as well as the Iranian ambassador to Iraq for their coordination in this regard.”

He pointed to the presence of the head of Iran-Iraq Joint Chamber, along with the managers of a number of specialized commissions, economic organizations, and private sector companies active in the fields of technology and engineering services, oil, gas and petrochemical, construction, agriculture, home appliances, metal structures, steel, and polyethylene pipes, transportation and food industries in the conference, saying: “Hopefully, the talks will yield fruitful results for the two countries’ private sectors.”

Headed by Shafeie, the Iranian trade delegation had arrived in Najaf in central Iraq on Monday and attended a meeting with the representatives of the Iraqi Federation of Industries in order to discuss ways of removing obstacles in the way of expanding mutual trade.

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“The necessary license has been issued to provide $125 million of Iran’s resources in Iraq for purchasing 16 million doses of the COVAX vaccine and transfer this amount to a European bank,” Ardakanian said.

According to the Energy Ministry’s portal Paven, the official noted that the paperwork is expected to be done by the end of the week and the vaccines will soon be provided to the Iranian Health Ministry.

Iraq owes Iran over $6 billion for electricity and gas imports from the Islamic Republic, of which $3 billion is claimed to be blocked and inaccessible in the Trade Bank of Iraq (TBI).

Back in March, the Deputy Head of Iran-Iraq Joint Chamber of Commerce said that the Arab country has started repaying its energy debts to Iran and part of the dues has been settled.

“This achievement is the result of diplomacy and pursuit of the governor of the Central Bank of Iran (CBI), the energy minister and the head of the Judiciary,” Hamid Hosseini told IRNA.

Ardakanian visited Iraq in late December 2020 to meet with senior officials from the country and discuss the country’s energy debts to Iran.

Upon returning to Tehran, Ardakanian said that Iraq was going to open a euro bank account to pave the way for settling all the country’s gas and electricity dues to Iran.

“Based on an agreement which is going to be implemented in the coming days, Iraq is going to open a euro savings bank account in which the country’s debts to National Iranian Gas Company (NIGC) and the Power Generation, Distribution, and Transmission Company (known as Tavanir) will be saved,” Ardakanian said at the time.

“Iraq’s recent and past debts to our country will be transferred and saved in this account after being exchanged to euro,” the minister said.

This way, transferring the money or using it for purchasing basic goods and medicine will be less problematic considering the U.S. sanctions, he emphasized.

Ardakanian had announced the formation of a committee for working on the issue and said: “As the Iranian head of the two countries’ Joint Economic Committee, I will monitor the process on a daily basis until we achieve desirable results.”

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He also called on the joint committee to put on its agenda organizing and solving problems of Iranian labor forces in Iraqi Kurdistan Region.
Meanwhile, Adel al-Rikabi hailed friendly relations between two countries, saying it can be a pattern for other countries.
He expressed Iraq’s readiness for taking advantage of Iran’s experiences in creating job opportunities.

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Iraq as a signatory to the documents of the International Labor Organization is still facing problems in terms of labor rights and economic weakness.
The Arab country grapples with 30 percent poverty level. Half of the 40 million population of the country are workforce, while its jobless rate stands at 2.5 million people.
The outbreak of COVID-19 pandemic and the decline of oil prices in 2020 have severely hit the economy and workforce of Iraq, causing spread of poverty in the country with abundance of resources and human capital.
Iraq has started cooperating with the International Labor Organization since 2019 in a bid to improve labor rights and meet requirements of laborers until 2023.
Iranian minister’s visit to Iraq
Experts believe that the visit by Iran’s Minister of Labor and Social Welfare Mohammad Shariatmadari to Baghdad has been made in a proper time, when Iraq needs to utilize Iranian experiences in upgrading the situation of laborers and using opportunities to promote entrepreneurship.
Iran’s Shariatmadari and Iraq’s Labor and Social Affairs Minister Adel al-Rikabi signed a document in Baghdad on Sunday to expand cooperation.
Shariatmadari underlined that the prerequisite to open export markets in neighboring countries is development of labor collaborations.
The exchange of professional delegations in the field of entrepreneurship as well as development of cooperation in technical trainings can be a part of permanent assistances between Iraq and Iran, according to experts.
Ahmad Hamid Al-Alwani, the Iraqi Deputy Minister of Labor and Social Affairs, told IRNA that the collaborations between the two ministries include different fields of economy, industry and agriculture.
In the eyes of the Iraqi officials, the Islamic Republic of Iran is one of the most important partners of the Arab country, which provides Iraq with electricity, gas, goods and foodstuffs.
In a meeting with Shariatmadari, Iraq’s Minister of Finance Ali Abdulamir Allawi emphasized that strong and brotherly relations with the Islamic Republic is one of the main economic reliance points for the Iraqis.
The joint cooperation document between Iran-Iraq is expected to open a window of opportunity for expansion of mutual ties and create a system for permanent association, which will pave the ground for progress and economic thrive in both countries.

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In this meeting, Rear Admiral Ali Shamkhani considered any delay in implementing the law on the expelling of foreign troops from Iraq to the detriment of the region, increasing tensions and escalating the crisis.

He also stressed the need for the joint cooperation of the regional countries to reduce tensions and hold constructive talks to reduce the existing crises.

The peace and security of Iraq today is the result of the authority of the Iraqi government, the epic struggle of the armed forces, and the popular Resistance groups, therefore it must be protected, Shamkhani added.

The recent US actions to strengthen and expand the terrorist activities of ISIL and the brutal attack on the anti-terrorist forces of the Resistance is the beginning of a new round of organized terrorism, he said and stressed that Iran and other counter-terrorism countries will not allow takfiri terrorism to be revived in the region.

Security and stability are the infrastructures of economic development and prosperity, the Iraqi Foreign Minister said, explaining, “Security is the first priority for a country like Iraq, which has been engaged in the fight against terrorism and insecurity for years.”

Elsewhere in his remarks, he said, “With the continuous efforts of the financial and banking sectors and the economic institutions of Iran and Iraq, some important obstacles have been removed and the debt repayment process will soon begin based on the model agreed between the two countries.”

The Iraqi minister arrived in Tehran on Saturday for a one-day visit. This marks the Iraqi diplomat’s second trip of the month to Tehran.

The chief Iraqi diplomat paid a visit to Iran in early February during which he met with Zarif, Secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council Ali Shamkhani, and President Hassan Rouhani.

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“Iran considers the stability and security of Iraq a key issue for the region and its neighbors, and rejects any action that disturbs the peace and order in this country,” he added.

Describing such actions as suspicious, the Foreign Ministry spokesman called on the Iraqi government to issue the necessary instructions to follow up and deal with the perpetrators.

A rocket attack in the northern Iraqi city of Erbil on Monday killed a civilian contractor with the American-led military coalition and wounded six others, including a US service member, said a US-led coalition spokesman.

Several other rockets landed in residential areas of the city, the capital of the Kurdistan Region of Iraq, including one close to the Chinese Consulate.

A newly-established militant group that calls itself “Saraya Awliya al-Dam” has claimed responsibility for the rocket attack, Press TV reported.

The group claimed that it fired 24 rockets from an area 7 kilometers away from the US-occupied al-Tahrir military base, all of which hit their targets as the coalition air defenses failed to intercept the rockets.

Previously, Saeed Khatibzadeh, the Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesperson, Monday welcomed Qatar for its efforts to revive the 2015 nuclear deal though he made it clear that Washington’s commitment to the JCPOA requires no mediation.

“Qatar is one of Iran’s regional friends and partners. There have been close consultations between Iran and Qatar at different levels,” he remarked. The spokesman criticized the Biden administration for pursuing Donald Trump’s policy towards Iran, noting, “The situation is not any different from before January 20, as Washington has maintained the same ‘maximum pressure and crimes’ against the Iranian nation.”

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