After Military Cooperation, Iran Says It Will Help Rebuild Iraq

BAGHDAD, IRAQ (NINA) - Iran's ambassador to Baghdad Erej Masjedi said Iran's military cooperation with Iraq has been serious and comprehensive, adding that Iran would help rebuild Iraq. The official Tasnim news agency quoted Masjedi as saying in a news conference in Tehran that " The Iranian-Iraqi defense and security relations will continue as before" added "Iran has good relations with the Ministry of Defense, the army, the popular mobilization forces and the police in Iraq." Iran's ambassador to Baghdad said his country would certainly help "rebuild Iraq." Added "We have good and unique relations with Iraq in various political, cultural and social fields," "We have good relations with the Iraqi parties as well, and our relations with the Kurds are very strong and historic and we are seeking during the current period to establish a relationship between Erbil and Baghdad to ensure the interests of both sides," he said. "The average of trade without oil and gas (between Iran and Iraq) is about 7 billion dollars, while the average of the two countries amounts to 12 billion dollars with oil and gas," he said. He noted that "Iran is the second economic partner of Iraq after China and then Turkey; in the light of the existence of several agreements between Iran and Iraq in the fields of defense, agriculture and the private sector." "Our borders are very secure and crowded with trade," he said. "We have 1450 kilometers of common border, which is the longest and most secure border." "We have five consulates in Arbil, Sulaymaniyah, Najaf, Basra and Karbala, as well as the embassy in Baghdad, as there are no consulates in any country in the world," he said, adding that "all the borders between the two countries are active today in trade exchange," adding that "the level of economic relations between the two countries is good, calling to strengthen them." He added that 4,000 Iraqi citizens are currently studying in Iranian schools and universities in a formal manner and that the energies of the two countries require strengthening these bilateral relations./ End