In a meeting in the Iranian Embassy in Baghdad on Sunday, Hennis Plasschaert told Iran’s Ambassador to Baghdad Iraj Masjedi that she hoped that cooperation between UN and Iran would contribute to further stability and security in Iraq.
The UN envoy congratulated the arrival of the fasting month of Ramadan and described her recent visit to Tehran and talks with officials as constructive and successful.
Hennis Plasschaert and Masjedi reviewed the Iraqi and regional developments in the meeting.
The Iranian diplomat, for his part, welcomed continued collaboration between Iran and the US for reinforcing stability in Iraq and hailed Iraq’s role in establishing stability in the region and fighting terrorism.
Earlier, Masjedi and Hennis Plasschaert met in late April where the Iranian side reiterated Tehran’s will to contribute to the reconstruction of Iraq.
The Iranian ambassador elaborated on Iran’s activities in countering terrorism in the region, in Iraq and Syria in particular.
Masjedi said Iran’s counter-terrorism advisory role in Iraq and Syria have been played by the request of the two countries.
Iran is after solidarity and friendship between the regional people and governments, he said, adding the country’s efforts have always been in line with ensuring stability in the region.
Islamic Republic spares no effort to deepen friendly relations with its neighbor, he concluded.
For her part in the meeting, Hennis Plasschaert appreciated the important role Iran plays in combating terrorism to establish security and peace in both Iraq and the region.
She expressed her appreciation in the meeting held prior to her upcoming visit to Tehran where she is slated to hold talks with Iranian officials on the UN activities in Iraq.
In the meeting, she also hailed the undeniable role Iraq’s Hashd al-Shaabi (Popular Mobilization Units) plays in defeating terrorism and bringing stability to Iraq.
Early in April, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani said that Tehran is resolved to increase trade relations with Iraq by two-third to $20 billion from the current $12 billion.
"Facilitating banking relations can create a historic opportunity for the two nations,” President Rouhani said late at the Economic-Trade Forum of Iran and Iraq, stressing that Iran is determined to increase trade relations between the two countries to $20 billion from $12 billion.
"We are ready to have our tradespeople more active in Iraq and supply the required goods so that we can reach a good balance," he said.
Rouhani also said that "Iran is ready to develop relations in different fields such as energy, and supplying power and gas to Iraq.”
"The two Iranian and Iraqi nations have always been together in recent years in creating security and stability,” he said, adding, "the Iranian nation and government are very happy that they have been alongside the Iraqi nation and army from the beginning in their fight against terrorism.”
Referring to the achievements of stability and security in Iraq, Rouhani said, "Iranian economic and trade executives have stood by the Iraqi nation even when the country was insecure.”
He described the meeting of the high-ranking delegations of Iran and Iraq positive and said, "Today, good agreements were made by the two countries.”
"Today, we are witnessing the closest relations between the two countries," he said, stressing, "This historic opportunity can be a turning point in the relations between the two countries.”
Heading a high-ranking politico-economic delegation, Rouhani embarked on an official three-day visit to Iraq on March 11.