Iraq Seeks Iran’s Help for Reconstruction

Date: 13 March 2015 - 19:54

News ID: ۱۲۰۰۲

TEHRAN (Dispatches) -- Iraq says it welcomes Iran’s participation in its reconstruction for which Baghdad aims to splash out $400 billion.
Iran is currently a key ally of Iraq in the region, where bilateral ties have seen a complete turnaround from sworn enemies under the former Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein.
Annual trade stands at $12 billion which the two countries plan to raise to $20 billion.
"The Iraqi government has envisaged $400 billion for rebuilding the country’s infrastructure in which Iran can have a significant share,” Iraq’s Deputy Commerce Minister Walid Habib al-Mousavi said in Tehran.
He made the comments in a meeting with Iran’s Minister of Industry, Mines and Trade Muhammad Reza Nematzadeh who called for serious efforts to expand bilateral cooperation.
The two sides discussed supply of foodstuff and other basic goods to Iraq as well as construction of refineries and cooperation in banking and auto industry sectors.
Netmazadeh expressed hope that Iraq could develop an "Arab brand of car with the cooperation of Iranian automakers”.
The minister said the two sides also agreed to accelerate cooperation between their central banks.
Iran plays a key role in Iraq’s reconstruction. The Islamic Republic also provides vital supervisory assistance to the Iraqi army to fight ISIL terrorists and drive them out of the Arab country.
The two neighbors have signed an agreement under which Iran would ultimately deliver 35 million cubic meters per day of gas to Iraq.
Iraq wants to feed the Iranian gas into three power plants in Baghdad and Diyala.
Initial deliveries of four million cubic meters per day of natural gas could begin as early as May depending on the security situation of Iraq which is battling an ISIL insurgency.
Comments Distorted

Remarks made by an adviser to Iran's president proclaiming the revival of the Iranian empire was distorted by the media, Tehran's mission in Beirut said Thursday.
"The distorted and circulated statement, which bears no association to the truth... comes in light of increased Islamophobia and an increased fear of Iran’s role in the region,” read a statement released by the embassy.
In a conference last week, Ali Younesi, President Hassan Rouhani’s adviser on Ethnic and Religious Minorities affairs, was quoted as declaring a new, Iranian empire "whose capital is Baghdad”.
The adviser, who later issued a clarification about his comments, said that his words were purposefully misconstrued.
Younesi noted that his comments suggested a historical and cultural union between regional countries and not the revival of Iran’s ancient empire.
Several Iranian officials, including Iranian Speaker Ali Larijani, rose to his defense, with the speaker saying Thursday that the comments were inaccurately translated.
In Thursday’s statement, the Iranian embassy in Beirut stressed that Tehran's foreign policy is based on a respect of international rules and highlighted that Iran's 1979 Islamic Revolution was based on a rejection of the expansion of colonial powers.
"The era of empires is gone, never to return,” the statement read.