Iran should use all its resources to get a bigger share of trade in the Iraqi Kurdish region, as it has an important status and can serve as a safe conduit for expansion into neighboring markets, a political analyst said.
“Iraqi Kurdistan is a special and important region, which can be considered a very good trade partner for Iran, given their geopolitical and cultural commonalities,” Siroos Borna, an Iranian expert on Iraqi affairs, told the Iranian Diplomacy website in a recent interview.
He believes that closer economic relations with Erbil can help increase the country’s overall trade with Iraq.
“This region has more advanced infrastructure than Iraq and gives high priority to the issue of security. So we can transfer our goods to the central and western parts of Iraq through the Iraqi Kurdistan region,” he said.
Borna noted that the region can even act as a gateway for the export of Iranian products and services to other countries such as Syria and Jordan.
“That is why we have to put expansion of ties with Erbil high on our agenda,” he added.
The analyst said Foreign Minister Mohammed Javad Zarif’s visit to Erbil and Sulaymaniyah in January was a positive step toward stronger trade links with Iraqi Kurdistan.
Frayed Ties
Some political experts viewed the trip as part of ongoing efforts by Tehran to help close a tense chapter in bilateral relations from 2017 when Kurdish authorities in northern Iraq held an independence referendum, defying the central government in Baghdad.
The vote—which Iran had strongly opposed—was later ruled unconstitutional by Iraq’s Supreme Federal Court, following which Iraqi Kurdish leader Masoud Barzani resigned as president.
Turkey and Iran, who have their own Kurdish minorities, adopted a series of countermeasures against Kurdish Iraq in coordination with the Baghdad government, with Iran suspending flights to the region and closing several border crossings. Direct flights were resumed later and the land crossings were reopened.
“More high-level visits should be made on a regular basis by [officials from] other ministries and even the president. We are now at a crucial juncture where cruel and unilateral US sanctions and pressure have put the country in a very difficult situation. So we have to take maximum advantage of every opportunity,” Borna said.
Next Steps
Asked what practical measures could be taken by Iranian authorities to complement diplomatic efforts, Borna said more official border crossings should be set up to facilitate the transfer of goods.
"The next step is to help major Iranian banks and financial institutions expand into or establish more branches in the Iraqi Kurdish region to circumvent US sanctions," he said.
“In addition, the Foreign Ministry should be given a bigger role in enhancing interactions between companies and institutions in Iraq and the Iraqi Kurdistan region and their Iranian counterparts.”
