Azerbaijan, Baku, Feb.14 / Trend, A.Taghiyeva /
The trade turnover between Iran and Iraq decreased sharply in 2011, head of the International Trade Relations Department at the Iraqi Trade Ministry Hashim Al-Sudani told Trend on Tuesday.
"In 2011, trade turnover between Iraq and Iran amounted to $4 billion, whereas in 2010 this figure hit $8 billion," Al-Sudani said.
All trade operations between the countries are conducted in dollars and use of other currency cannot be a topic of discussions, he said.
With regard to the method of payment for trade operations between Iraq and Iran, Al-Sudani said payment is made through the national banks, and through private banks of these countries, without involvement of other countries' banks.
"Iranian banks have branches in Iraq. This facilitates financial transactions between countries," he said.
Al-Sudani also stressed that today Iraq's main partner is Turkey. Thus, trade turnover between the two countries reached $12 billion.