Iran, Iraq finalize payment mechanism

Compiled from Dispatches

Iraq will not be a part of the anti-iran sanctions, said Iraqi Prime Minister Adel Abdol-mahdi in a meeting with Iran’s Central Bank Governor in Baghdad on Wednesday.

Abdolnaser Hemmati conferred with the Iraqi prime minister on the latest situation of banking and monetary relations between the two countries, IRNA reported.

Hemmati and his accompanying delegation also met the Iraqi President Barham Saleh, who called for the removal of barriers to economic and commercial cooperation between the Iranian and Iraqi private and public sectors.

The Iraqi President expressed his satisfaction with the agreement reached between the central banks of the two countries on Tuesday.

Iran and Iraq agreed on a payment mechanism that will enable the two neighbors to do business in the face of US sanctions on Tehran.

The mechanism was discussed in a meeting between Hemmati and his Iraqi counterpart Ali Mohsen Ismail al-alaq in Baghdad and the details were signed off on a document Tuesday night.

Hemmati arrived in the Iraqi capital on Tuesday to discuss banking relations and payments backlog related to Iran’s gas and electricity exports to the Arab country, he wrote on his Instagram account.

Iraq is Iran’s biggest trade partner, but their relations are increasingly coming under pressure from the US which imposed unilateral sanctions on Tehran in May after abandoning an international nuclear agreement.

On Tuesday, Minister of Petroleum Bijan Zangeneh summed up the tricky situation.

“Every month, $200 million worth of Iranian gas is exported to Iraq which does not pay it, saying you are under sanctions. At the moment, we have $2 billion owed by Iraq for the gas and electricity sold to the country,” he said.

Nevertheless, Iraq relies on Iran for electricity and consumer goods and trade ties are still strong.

Accounts in Iraqi banks

The governor of Iran’s central bank said on Wednesday that Iranian traders can open accounts with Iraqi banks to carry out their transactions under the new payment system agreed between the two neighbors, Press TV reported.

“According to an agreement reached with the Central Bank of Iraq, Iranian exporters can operate through Iraqi banks, and in this regard, Iranian banks can have dinar-denominated accounts in Iraqi banks,” he said.

Hemmati met Iraqi bank directors, members of chambers of commerce and traders on Wednesday, saying the two sides had reached “good agreements.”

“According to the agreement, the Central Bank of Iran will have euro- and dinar-denominated accounts in Iraqi banks and gas and oil exchanges will be carried out via these accounts,” he said.

“Iraqi companies can also open accounts in Iranian banks and do trade in dinars,” said Hemmati who also announced that he agreed with a request for Iraqi banks to open branches in Iran.

“Therefore, with these agreements and the blessing of the Iraqi prime minister, banking relations between Iran and Iraq will be much stronger, and the expansion of trade relations between the two countries will take shape on this basis,” he added.

Gas imports from Iran generate as much as 45 percent of Iraq’s 14,000 megawatts of electricity consumed daily. Iran transmits another 1,000 megawatts directly, making itself an indispensable energy source for its Arab neighbor.

Basra was hit by violent protests which spread to other cities last summer, partly because of a halt of Iranian electricity exports.

Iranian officials have said the country is pushing forth with a 2025 vision plan to raise its exports to Iraq to $20 billion a year despite US pressures on Baghdad to keep Tehran at arm’s length.

Foodstuff, livestock, construction materials and plastic products constitute the bulk of Iran’s exports to Iraq. Iranian vehicles and food items are a ubiquitous sight in Iraq.

the sixth round of Iran-france political consultations with French Foreign Ministry Secretary General Maurice Gourdault-montagne.

They discussed the latest developments regarding bilateral relations, the JCPOA’S implementation, INSTEX, France’s commitments under the nuclear deal, regional issues and the fight against terrorism.

Speaking to Le Figaro, Araqchi announced Tehran and Paris had decided to exchange ambassadors in the near future, after a six-month break.

“After six months of absence of representatives of the two countries, the exchange will be carried out in the near future,” he said on Tuesday.

France announced in September it would not name a new ambassador to Tehran due to what it described as a failed bomb plot against a meeting of the Mujahedin-e Khalq Organization terrorist group in Paris last June.

Iran has been accused by several European governments of having a role behind the plot. Tehran denies any role and officials have said the plot could be a false flag operation set up by Israel to damage Iran-europe relations at a time when the US withdrawal from the nuclear accord has pushed them closer together. France’s former ambassador to Iran, Francois Senemaud, departed in the summer. Iran is also yet to replace its departed ambassador to Paris.

There are speculations that Bahram Qassemi, the spokesman for Iran’s Foreign Ministry, will be appointed as Iran’s ambassador to France.