Iranian President Hassan Rouhani received in Tehran on Saturday Iraqi Prime Minister Adel Abdul Mahdi, hoping to expand their gas and electricity dealings and boost bilateral trade to $20 billion, state TV reported.
“The plans to export electricity and gas and hopefully oil continue and we are ready to expand these contacts not only for the two countries but also for other countries in the region,” Rouhani said in remarks carried by state television.
“We hope that our plans to expand trade volume to $20 billion will be realized within the news few months or years,” Rouhani said. Iranian media reports have put the current level of trade at about $12 billion.
In March, the United States granted Iraq a 90-day waiver exempting it from sanctions to buy energy from Iran, the latest extension allowing Baghdad to keep purchasing electricity from its neighbor.
Rouhani expressed hope that work on building a railway linking the two countries, would begin within the next few months.
The railway project was part of deals reached during Rouhani’s March visit to Baghdad.
US President Donald Trump reimposed sanctions on Iran’s energy exports in November, citing its nuclear program and meddling in the Middle East, but has granted waivers to several buyers to meet consumer energy needs.
Iraq relies heavily on Iranian gas to feed its power stations, importing roughly 1.5 billion standard cubic feet per day via pipelines in the south and east.
Later on Saturday, Iran’s supreme leader Ali Khamenei urged Abdul Mahdi to ensure US troops leave “as soon as possible”, local state media reported.
“You must make sure that the Americans withdraw their troops from Iraq as soon as possible because expelling them has become difficult whenever they have had a long military presence in a country,” Khamenei was quoted as saying.
Some 5,200 troops are stationed in Iraq as part of a security agreement with the Iraqi government to advise, assist and support the country's troops in the fight against the ISIS terrorist group.
