Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf told a gathering of Iranian and Iraqi economic actors at Iran’s embassy in Baghdad that the private sectors of both countries faced institutional problems, and said he would hold a follow-up meeting in Tehran with Iran’s chamber of commerce to address the issues in a prioritised and practical way.
He said Iraq could benefit from the “intelligent, efficient and talented” workforce in Iran’s border cities, and that a proper economic and trade road map between the two countries was needed.
Qalibaf rejected accusations that Iran sought war. “We have never been war-seeking. But as Muslims we believe in a principle of the Islamic Ummah: we do not allow anyone to trample our dignity and honour. We sacrifice our wealth and lives and defend our dignity and honour,” he said.
He added that “no one appreciates peace more than those who have fought.” Diplomacy, he added, only has value and moves forward when backed by readiness for war.
Qalibaf said Iran and Iraq had spent nearly half a century in a state of “neither war nor peace” and “both war and peace,” a situation he blamed on foreign greed for the region’s human, natural and geopolitical capacities.
He cited the geography of the Strait of Hormuz, the Persian Gulf, Bab al-Mandab and the Suez Canal, saying 75 percent of the world’s maritime transport was in the hands of Muslim countries. “The enemy has come to plunder our resources and raw materials,” he said.
The speaker called for trade in national currencies, saying the era of American domination had passed. 
“The Americans and Israelis have understood they cannot defeat Iran and Iraq militarily, so they have entered cognitive and economic warfare, and now you are the soldiers and commanders of this field,” Qalibaf told the business representatives. “No matter how much military power we have, if the people are hungry and we have no financial circulation, economic growth or national production, we will not survive.”
He said security and the economy were “two wings” of the same body. “Investment requires security, and if security is not sustained by the economy, it will not be stable either.”
Qalibaf said the path from Iran and Iraq to the Mediterranean passed through the countries of the resistance and was “the heart of our geopolitical area and one of the great components of power and independence.”
During the meeting, eight Iranian and Iraqi private sector representatives raised banking, legal and customs issues, and called for joint industrial zones, especially in Iranian border cities, the replacement of the dollar with dinar and toman in bilateral trade, private sector cooperation in rebuilding war-damaged areas, and stronger government support for cross-border business ties.
MNA