SHAFAQNA-Mehr News: Iraj Masjedi, Iran’s ambassador to Iraq, has highlighted that always Iraq’s independence and sovereignty have been highly supported and respected by Tehran.
Speaking during a ceremony in the Iraqi city of Hamza in Hilla governorate in the south of Baghdad, Iraj Masjedi said that “some would like to point out that the Islamic Republic of Iran or the ambassador is not paying enough attention to the independence and sovereignty of Iraq. As the ambassador of the Islamic Republic of Iran, I once again announce that Iran has always supported and will support the independence and sovereignty of Iraq and its territorial integrity.”
Masjedi added that as Iran stayed with Iraq during the toughest time of the fight against ISIL and it will continue staying beside its neighbor in the reconstruction period.
He further expressed his appreciation to the Iraqi government and people for providing services to the Iranian pilgrims during Arbaeen processions, stressing that the cultural and historical similarities between the two nations have brought the two together in such a way that one can say they are “a single soul inhabiting in two bodies.”
Currently, the annual bilateral trade value between the two countries is standing at $ 10 billion, and the Islamic Republic of Iran currently supplies more than 3,200 MW of electricity to its neighbor, according to the Iraqi ambassador.
He further pointed out that as many as eighty Iranian technical-engineering companies are operating in Iraq during in the post-ISIL reconstruction era with contracts valued at $ 12 billion.