Iran, Iraq in talks over foreign exchange cooperation deal

Iran, Iraq in talks over foreign exchange cooperation deal Iran is negotiating an agreement on foreign exchange with Iraq, the Director of international affairs at the country’s central bank, Hamid Ghanbari, announced yesterday.

Ghanbari, accompanied by Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif, arrived in Baghdad on Sunday on an official visit “to discuss mutual cooperation in the banking sector between the two countries”, according to local media.

He described the talks as “useful and constructive”, adding that a final agreement would be reached “during the Iraqi Prime Minister’s visit on Tuesday”.

“Under the accord, we [Iran] expect a significant amount of foreign exchange resources, amounting to several billion dollars, will enter the market and a large part of the foreign exchange demand will be met from the same source,” the Iranian official pointed out.

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The imminent deal was reported to have come as part of a memorandum of understanding that was signed last year between Ghanbari and his Iraqi counterpart.

Iran’s central bank chief, Abdolnaser Hemmati, has said the country is trying to access billions in dollars of funds frozen abroad to provide liquidity to the market which has been badly affected by the “unprecedented” US sanctions imposed on the Islamic Republic.