Iran urges Iraq to tighten border supervision to stop smuggling of weapons
TEHRAN, June 1 (Xinhua) -- Iranian Interior Minister Ahmad Vahidi on Thursday urged the Iraqi government to tighten supervision over the shared border to stop the smuggling of weapons into Iran.
Vahidi made the remarks in a meeting held in Iran's northwestern province of West Azarbaijan, which was attended by the head of the Islamic Republic of Iran Customs Administration (IRICA) Mohammad Rezvani-Far as well as governors from the border provinces of Iran and Iraq's Kurdistan region, the semi-official Tasnim news agency reported.
During the meeting, Vahidi called for increasing the number of border crossings with Iraq to facilitate trade with its western neighbor.
He also advocated for the use of national currencies in bilateral banking transactions and the de-dollarization of trade between Iran and Iraq.
In a meeting held in Tehran on Wednesday, Vahidi and his Iraqi counterpart Abdul Amir al-Shammari highlighted the necessity of expanding security cooperation along their shared border to fight against terrorism and drug trafficking.
On March 19, Iran and Iraq signed a security agreement that stipulates coordination in protecting the border between the two countries in the Iraqi capital of Baghdad.
According to figures released by Mohammad Rezvani-Far during the Thursday meeting, Iran exported 10 billion U.S. dollars worth of goods to Iraq in the previous Iranian calendar year, which ended on March 20. ?
