Setting sights on $50b trade target with Iraq

By Heshmatollah Falahatpisheh

Mideast affairs expert

Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian’s choice of Iraq as his first foreign visit destination is defensible from political, cultural, and economic perspectives. However, among the various fields for potential bilateral cooperation, I want to zero in on economic collaboration as the real standout in this piece. Although security strategies still hold sway along the Iran-Iraq border, the frontier is still Iran’s most lucrative border, thanks to the political and cultural affinities between the two neighbors.

Based on my 12-year experience in Iraqi affairs, I believe that if security considerations step aside and make way for developmental ones at the border, Tehran-Baghdad trade capacities can reach $50 billion annually. However, unfortunately, security considerations have sometimes stopped or postponed some important economic projects or even removed them from the agenda.
If the authorities of Iran and Iraq do not get a move on and put these economic agreements into action pronto, border trade will fall into the hands of middlemen and mafias.

The Iran-Iraq border is such that transportation routes can be established along its length because people inhabit the surrounding areas, thus providing grounds for trade.
Moreover, familial, tribal, and clan ties have remained intact even during the war between the two countries and still exist on both sides of the border. After Saddam’s regime’s fall, the very same ties served as the underlying structure of trade between the two nations.
Therefore, I advise President Pezeshkian to take on these few essential tasks during his trip to Iraq:
First, remove the obstacles hindering the implementation of agreements signed between the two countries.
Second, ensure that his minister of roads and urban development joins the Iranian entourage to set up a permanent joint working group with Iraq. The initial, primary task of this group could be to plan for the construction of four railway lines between the two countries, namely Shalamcheh-Basra, Ilam-Mehran-Karbala-Najaf, Tehran-Kermanshah-Khosravi-Baghdad, and Hamadan-Sanandaj- Iraqi Kurdistan.
If such a working group is formed, investors from both countries will enthusiastically participate in these profitable projects.
At the end of the day, one of the sticking points in the way of Tehran-Baghdad trade relations, despite all the good vibes and political ties, is the absence of these joint permanent working groups. I hope that President Pezeshkian’s trip will resolve this issue.
The third important task that the President can undertake in Iraq is a visit to the Iraqi Kurdistan Region. Some mistakes or misjudgments in the past few years have led to mutual resentment and negatively impacted economic and political relations between Iran and the Kurdistan Region.
Taking a trip to the Kurdistan Region and holding meetings between Pezeshkian and its officials could dissipate these resentments and pave the way for enhanced relations and cooperation. Even now, a significant portion of Iran’s trade is with the Kurdistan Region, which has the potential to grow substantially.