Mohsen Paknejad made the remarks on the sidelines of a joint meeting between senior Iranian and Iraqi delegations. He said there are numerous areas for cooperation between the two countries, adding that gas is also imported in parallel with the volumes Iran exports to Iraq.
Iraq remains one of Iran's key gas customers, with exports currently governed by two separate contracts. Gas has flowed between the countries through two pipelines since the signing of agreements covering Baghdad in July 2017 and Basra in June 2018, Shana reported.
The comments came during a visit by Iraqi Prime Minister Ali Falih al-Zaidi, who arrived in Tehran on Thursday leading a high-level delegation and was welcomed by Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian. Economic and energy cooperation featured prominently in the talks.
Speaking at the joint session, Pezeshkian said Iran seeks to elevate relations with Iraq to the highest possible level across political, economic, trade, scientific, agricultural, industrial, security and infrastructure sectors, citing the two nations' shared historical, cultural and religious ties.
The two countries signed four cooperation agreements and memorandums of understanding during the visit. At its conclusion, Iran and Iraq issued a joint statement pledging to expand strategic cooperation across all sectors, draft a comprehensive long-term cooperation framework, accelerate implementation of bilateral agreements, and strengthen political, economic, security and regional coordination.
SHANA