Iranians Urged to Resume Business With Iraqi Kurdistan

Chairman of Iran-Iraq Chamber of Commerce Yahya Al-e Es’haq has called on Iranian businesspeople to resume their activities in the Iraqi Kurdistan Region, noting that the security situation there is now stable following a botched independence referendum. “Our borders with Iraqi Kurdistan are reopening one by one and the situation is returning to normalcy,” the official told IRNA. An independence referendum was conducted by the Iraqi Kurdistan Region despite harsh oppositions from the federal government in Baghdad and warnings from neighboring countries on the repercussions. Less than a month later, Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi declared that the region’s September 25 referendum was “history”. On Iran-Iraq economic cooperation, Al-e Es’haq said Iran’s exports to the neighboring country registered a 6% growth in the first half of the current Iranian year (started March 21). During the period, the value of Iran’s exports to Iraqi markets was over $3.2 billion, with less than one-third of exports going to the northern Kurdish region. Al-e Es’haq noted that Iraq is the second destination for Iranian products after China.