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Reuters Nov 22, -- Iraq and Iran are also
beginning to rebuild trade along southern sea
routes. This will become easier after the rebuilding
of Iraq's battered port at Umm Qasr is complete.
Iran has already begun exporting cement and iron
beams through Umm Qasr. In the past two months about
9,000 tonnes of Iranian goods also came through
Basra's port, officials say.
Iraqi customs officials say plans are underway to
open a third port near Basra to facilitate trade
with Iran.
Yet while Iraq has transport agreements with Jordan,
Syria, Kuwait and Turkey, there is no such pact yet
with Iran. An agreement is in the pipeline despite
lingering Iranian fears about security in Iraq.
Many Iranian traders prefer to invest in more stable
Kurdistan, the mountainous northern region of Iraq
which has enjoyed de facto autonomy since 1991, when
U.S. and British planes enforced a no-fly zone after
the first Gulf War.
"Security is the biggest problem in parts of Iraq
other than Kurdistan for Iranian companies who are
eager to invest," Hedayatollah Rezaee, director of
international affairs for Iran's Chamber of
Commerce, told Reuters.
"In addition to that, there are customs problems,
visa problems and transport problems," he said.
Mansour Sarmast, a member of the Society of Iranian
Companies in Iraq, said around 100 Iranian companies
are registered in Kurdistan with tenders worth some
$400 million.
Sarmast said Kurdistan could be used as a new
gateway for Iraq, noting that Kurds control customs
in their own territory.
The thaw in relations does not just extend to trade
-- religious tourism between Iran and Iraq is also
picking up.
Iraq's Shi'ite-led government has signed an
agreement to allow Iranian pilgrims to visit the
holy city of Najaf, which houses the tomb of Imam
Ali, one of the holiest figures in Shi'ite Islam,
and other religious sites in nearby Kerbala.
Earlier this month, an Iraqi Airways plane touched
down in Tehran, the first passenger flight between
the two countries in 25 years.
"Despite bitter memories of the eight-year,
Iraqi-imposed war ... now that a popular government
has taken over in Iraq, trade cooperation ... will
expand," Ebrahim Tehrani, deputy secretary-general
of Iran's business chamber, told his Iraqi
counterpart during a recent meeting.
Reuters
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