Iraq agrees to take rials instead of Dollars from Iranian pilgrims

ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) – Tehran and Baghdad signed a memorandum of understanding on Wednesday over the use of the rial as it continues to slide against the dollar and Iraq prepares to receive thousands of pilgrims from Iran. 

The memorandum was signed in Baghdad during a meeting between Iranian Minister of Interior, Abdolreza Rahmani Fazli, and his Iraqi counterpart, Qasim al-Araji—a man trained by Iran’s elite Quds Force, part of the Iranian Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC), and twice detained by American forces in Iraq on charges of smuggling weapons used to attack US troops.

According to Iran’s state-owned IRNA, the deal also focuses on providing appropriate security for Shia Muslims attending the upcoming commemoration of the death of the Islamic prophet’s grandson, Hussein Ibn Ali.

Iraq plans to host over two million Shia Iranians on October 30 as pilgrims partake in what is known as the Great March of Arbaeen, toward the shrine of Hussein in the city of Karbala, one of the holiest sites for Shia Muslims.

The deal comes as the Iranian currency continues to lose its value against the US Dollar, dropping as low as 150,000 rial per Dollar—according to foreign exchange websites—which amounts to almost two-thirds of its value from the start of the year.

Iran’s economy, already weak, took an even stronger turn for the worse when the US withdrew from the nuclear deal—which intended to limit Tehran’s nuclear activities and military ambitions—in May, and reimposed sanctions three months later. The sanction that aims to cripple the country entirely will target Iran’s oil industry in November.

On Saturday, Yahya ale-Ishaq, an official from Iran’s Chamber of Commerce, said that the two countries, Iran and Iraq, have suspended dollar-based transactions for bilateral trade for Baghdad to remain in line with US sanctions on the Islamic regime.

Editing by Nadia Riva