Iran's foreign trade data for the past nine months indicated that Iraq remains the top importer of Iranian goods.

The Iranian exports to Iraq during this period amounted to 15,485,000 tons of goods worth $6.929 billion, Mehr news agency reported on Friday, January 4.

Iraq imports a wide range of goods from Iran including food, agricultural products, home appliances, air conditioners, and spare car parts.

The goods element of Iranian imports to Iraq was about $6 billion for the 12 months ending March 2018, about 15 percent of Iraq’s total imports for 2017.

Total bilateral trade is currently estimated to be worth $12 billion annually.

Iranian President Hassan Rouhani said during a visit to Tehran by his Iraqi counterpart Barham Salih in November that Iran hoped eventually to increase that to $20 billion.

On Wednesday, Iraqi Foreign Minister Mohammed Ali al-Hakim said "These sanctions, the siege, or what is called the embargo, these are unilateral, not international. We are not obliged [to follow] them," according to the news agency.

Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif is due to visit Iraq in the coming weeks, his office said.

Reporter’s code: 50101