Ghalibaf, on Iraq Trip, Calls for Ending Dollar Trade and Joint Border Industrial Zones

Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, Speaker of Iran's Parliament, on a two day visit to Iraq, told a meeting of Iranian and Iraqi business figures at Iran's embassy in Baghdad that specialized sessions with chamber of commerce officials from both countries are planned in Tehran. According to Donya-e-Eqtesad, citing Khaneh Mellat, Ghalibaf stressed the need for a precise "economic road map" between Iran and Iraq, saying that without one, the labor potential of border cities would go to waste.

Addressing the gathering of economic operators, Ghalibaf said trade could be conducted in national currencies to blunt the impact of sanctions; participants at the meeting stressed the need to remove the dollar from bilateral trade, replace it with the dinar and toman, and establish joint industrial zones in border areas. Per the Khaneh Mellat report, the trip included a senior delegation from the Iran Iraq parliamentary friendship group and representatives from border provinces.