Tehran, IRNA – Secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council (SNSC) Ali Shamkhani has said that the country and its neighbor Iraq have agreed to a new mechanism for settlement of payments related to Iraqi energy arrears to Iran.
In an interview with the IRNA published on Monday just after his return from a visit to Iraq, Shamkhani said that Tehran and Baghdad had agreed to a new arrangement to use Iranian funds that remain blocked in Iraq because of US sanctions.
He said the funds will be used to purchase basic goods and to settle payments owed by Iranian merchants to trade partners in Iraq.
The top security official also referred to an agreement reached during his visit to the United Arab Emirates last week to facilitate the use of UAE dirham in trade ties between Iran and the UAE.
Shamkhani said financial agreements that he worked out in the UAE and in Iraq would positively impact the foreign exchange situation in Iran.
The SNSC chief and his Iraqi counterpart Qassim al-Araji signed a major agreement on Sunday to enable Iran and Iraq to boost security along their borders.
He told IRNA that the security pact with Iraq “is definitely regarded as a very important development”.