Rouhollah Latifi made the remarks concurrent with a trip to Iraq by Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian, adding that Iraq has a special place in the cultural, religious, political, social and economic relations of Iran.
Iraq is the second destination of non-oil Iranian exports, he said, adding that the Arab country has many religious and ethnic commonalities with Iran.
Latifi put the value of non-oil products exported from Iran to neighboring Iraq in the first five months of the current Iranian calendar year (March 21 to August 22, 2024) at $4.6 billion.
He said Iraq is considered a rich country due to the export of $100 billion of oil annually and after suffering a lot due to engagement in three wars, it meets many of its needs through importing products, IRNA reported.
Iraq has accounted for 20 percent of Iran’s total exports with about 30 percent of Iranian agricultural and food products being exported to the neighboring country, the spokesman stated.
Currently, Iran’s rivals are making their utmost efforts to get the lion’s share in exporting products to Iraq, he said, calling on responsible officials of the country to take effective measures in order to increase Iran’s export share in the lucrative market of Iraq.