“Considering the problems that have emerged in dollar-based banking transactions, a joint proposal between Iran and Iraq is using Iraq’s dinar in trade,” said Masjedi.
An alternative plan, he added, would be to use barter mechanisms to carry out imports and exports with Iraq, Press TV reported.
The official was speaking as Iraq’s President Barham Salih was visiting Tehran on his first trip to the Islamic Republic.
Masjedi further emphasized that the current level of trade between Iran and Iraq stood at $12 billion, stressing that serious plans were on agenda to promote this to as high as $20 billion.
He acknowledged that Iraq had come under pressure from the US over doing business with Iran after the return of the sanctions and underscored comments by Iraqi officials that Baghdad would not toe Washington’s line as a sign that the country could not afford to cut trade ties with its eastern neighbor.
“The Iraqis need Iran’s natural gas, electricity, food items and industrial materials,” Masjedi emphasized. “If exports of these to Iraq are stopped, there will be problems not only for Iran but also for the Iraqis, as well.”
The port of Basra in southern Iraq was hit by violent protests, which spread to other cities this summer, partly because of a halt of imports of electricity from Iran.
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