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On this photo published by the official website of the Iranian presidency, Iraqi President Barham Salih, on the right, and his Iranian counterpart Hassan Rouhani shake hands at an official Salih welcome ceremony at the Saadabad Palace in Tehran. , Iran, Saturday, November 17, 2018. Salih travels to Iran less than two weeks after the United States reinstated the oil sanctions levied under the 2015 nuclear deal. (Office of the Iranian Presidency via AP) (Associated Press)
Tehran, Iran – Iraqi President Barham Salih began a visit to Iran on Saturday, where he pledged to improve relations less than two weeks after the United States reinstated the sanctions on oil levied under the 2015 Nuclear Agreement.
Iran, which has a major influence on Iraq since the 2003 US invasion that toppled Saddam Hussein, hopes to maintain its exports to its neighbor despite renewed sanctions. Iraq is Iran's second largest market after China.
Iranian President Hassan Rouhani said at a joint briefing at the end of their talks that the talks had aimed to increase trade in petroleum products and electricity and to create free trade zones along the border. He added that they also discussed joint oil projects and improved transport links between the two countries.
Trade between the two countries reached about $ 7 billion in 2017 and committed to $ 8.5 billion this year. Rouhani said that it could reach 20 billion dollars a year.
Salih is also committed to improving relations and suggested the formation of a "new regional system" including Iraq and Iran, based on "political integrity, national interests and cooperation between nations and governments ". He did not specify.
Later in the day, Salih met with Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who called for the unity of the two countries and said the Iraqis must resist any foreign intervention.
"Some governments in the region and beyond have a lot of grudges against Islam, Shiites and Sunnis and are interfering in Iraq's internal affairs," said Khamenei. "The impudent and clear enemy must be firmly opposed." He did not name any country.
President Donald Trump withdrew the United States from the 2015 nuclear agreement between Iran and the world powers in May. United Nations observers said Iran still respected the agreement, in which it agreed to limit its uranium enrichment in exchange for the lifting of international sanctions.
Since then, Trump has announced what he has presented as the most severe sanctions against Iran. The country has seen its oil exports drop and its currency lose more than half of its value. The package came into effect on November 5 when the United States reimposed oil and banking sanctions.
The United States, which has provided crucial military support to Iraq in its battle against the Islamic State group, has granted Iraq a 45-day waiver allowing it to continue buying gas and electricity from Iraq. Iran.
Salih said that Iraq should not be "a field of struggle between conflicting demands and wills".
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