Iran, Iraq resume trade via Shalamcheh border

Iran and Iraq resumed trade through Shalamcheh border, Mehr news agency reported on Sunday, quoting an Iranian provincial official.

Seyed Ali Mousavi said, “Today, the international border of Shalamcheh was reopened and traders of the two countries resumed their activities.”

Exports of non-oil goods, including foodstuffs, fruits, vegetables, and meat, as well as technical and engineering services, resumed at this border on July 6, according to an agreement reached with the Iraqi side, Mousavi announced.

According to Mousavi, 21,000 tons of non-oil goods worth $95 million exported to Iraq after resuming of Shalamcheh border on July 9, after a four-month shut down due to the outbreak of coronavirus.

Before the closure of the Shalamcheh border by Iraq, more than 200 trucks were carrying a variety of domestic exported goods and 150 Iraqi trucks traveled daily at the border dock to unload and load goods.

Meanwhile, in early July, the head of Iraq's Border Ports Authority Omar Al-Waeli announced that Iraqi Prime Minister Mustafa Al-Kadhimi had ordered trade exchanges with Iran to be resumed in Mandali and Shalamcheh border markets.

Al-Waeli added that accordingly, 250 shipments from Iran will enter Iraq daily for two days a week through the Shalamcheh border in Basra and Mandali in Diyala province, IRNA reported.

Preventive measures against coronavirus should be taken in health departments of the two provinces to ensure the safety of workers and incoming goods, he said.

The official reiterated that only goods exchanges are permissible and passengers will never be allowed to enter the border crossings.

In mid-June, the Iraqi government agreed to reopen Zarbatiyeh (Mehran) border crossing to import goods from Iran for two days a week, and trade is currently underway at that border crossing.

Iraq's Border Ports Authority closed border crossings with Iran and its neighbors in mid-March to prevent the outbreak of the coronavirus.

source: TehranTimes