As economic interdependence is growing between Iran and Iraq, private companies are being given the pivotal role to nurture increasingly powerful and mutually beneficial relations between the two important neighbors.

A delegation of 32 business people is tagging along as President Hassan Rouhani is currently visiting Iraq to shore up ebullient trade partnership against US subterfuge.
The private sector provides the wiggle room for both countries to navigate the complex maze of US sanctions imposed on Iran after President Donald Trump withdrew from a landmark 2015 nuclear deal with the Islamic Republic in May.
For their run-of-the-mill maintenance, Iraqis depend on Iranian companies for everything from food to machinery, electricity, natural gas, fruits and vegetables.
Iraq’s infrastructure has been destroyed in 30 years of wars, mostly after the US invasion which saw the bulk of the highly-skilled human force leave the country.
Iran offers an invaluable pool of human capital, services and resources which are literally within a walking distance from the Iraqi border.
Hence, choking such a vital source is as much damaging - if not worse - to Iraq as it is to Iran, explaining President Barham Salih’s declaration that Iraq’s interests lie in maintaining very good relations with Iran.
“I deliberately repeat this sentence several times. We Iraqis have an interest in strengthening these relations with Iran, and we must see them as a main issue among all our regional relationships,” he said Monday, with Rouhani on his side.
The two presidents oversaw the signing of several trade deals on oil, trade, health, and a railway linking the southern Iraqi oil city of Basra and the Iranian border town of Shalamcheh.