BAGHDAD (Dispatches) -- Iranian First Vice President says the Islamic Republic has been and will be next to the Iraqi people in rebuilding the country following the devastating war it had with Daesh terrorists.
"In the fight against Daesh, we showed that Iran was inseparable from Iraq and now that Iraq's reconstruction is on the agenda, we are ready to assist the Iraqi government and nation because we view Iraq's security and prosperity as Iran's own security and prosperity," Jahangiri told Iraqi President Fuad Masum here Thursday.
Masum said Iraq would always remember Iran's assistance in the fight against terror and expressed hope that the cooperation would continue to include reconstruction efforts.
Expressing Baghdad's desire to expand ties with allies and neighboring countries, Masum said he was looking forward to using Iran's experience in dealing with various issues, ranging from banking to environment.
"Baghdad welcomes Iranian investment in Iraq's economic projects and wants Iran's private sector to take on a more serious role in this regard," he noted.
Jahangiri also met with Iraqi Parliament Speaker Salim al-Jabouri and Iraqi Islamic Party Secretary General Ayad al-Samarrai.
Jahangiri said Iran is standing next to its Sunni and Shia Iraqi brothers, and hopefully Iraq will be reconstructed as soon as possible.
"I hope that with more unity among the Sunnis, Shias, and Kurds, a great movement will take shape in the reconstruction of Iraq, and this great nation can play its historic role in the region.”
Samarrai appreciated the positive views of the Islamic Republic of Iran in recent years regarding the rebuilding of Iraq.
He said Iraq has faced two major challenges, expelling the U.S. occupation forces and eradicating the terrorists; but the most important mission today is to attract investments to reconstruct Iraq.
"We are very pleased with Iran’s views on investing in Iraq, and we do emphasize that there are good investment opportunities in Sunni regions and we welcome the investment of Iranians in these regions.”
Earlier, Jahangiri said the Islamic Republic was prepared to provide Iraq with a line of credit (LOC) worth up to three billion dollars to pave the ground for the Iranian private sector’s active participation in the reconstruction of the Arab country.
He made the comments in his Wednesday meeting with Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi in Baghdad.
Jahangiri stressed that Tehran and Baghdad must work to remove the barriers in mutual banking relations, which is the main obstacle in the way of closer trade ties between the two countries.
The Iranian first VP, who was in Baghdad to join an Iranian business delegation led by Minister of Industries, Mining and Trade Muhammad Shariatmadari, hailed Tehran-Baghdad relations as "strategic”.