- BAGHDAD: Iran's new ambassador to Iraq is promising that trade between the one-time rivals will double in the "near future," even as his country is under stringent sanctions.
Hassan Dannaie Fir told reporters on Tuesday that Iraq is a "fertile market" for Iranian goods.
Trade between the two neighbors stands at about $7 billion per year. Iranian companies have increasingly been securing footholds in Iraq following the toppling of Saddam Hussein's Sunni regime, with the growing ties worrying the US as it works to withdraw its troops by next year.
Iran is under a fourth round of sanctions imposed by the UN Security Council, and the US and the European Union have also implemented other sanctions because of Tehran's controversial nuclear program.
