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Iran Pledges $1b. Loan To Iraq

Iran has announced plans to grant Iraq a billion-dollar loan, the Iranian Fars News Agency reported.
 
The loan will be paid in the form of credit and is aimed at helping with the reconstruction of Iraq in “areas of mutual interest,” Iran’s Minister of Economic Affairs and Finance Davoud Danesh Ja’afari told Iraqi Minister of Finance Bayan Jabr on Friday.
 
Iran and Iraq were historical enemies following the eight-year war between the two neighbors from 1980 to 1988, which caused around a million deaths on both sides.
 
However, there has been a thaw in relations since the toppling of Saddam Hussein’s regime in 2003. Both countries have a Muslim Shi’ite majority.
 
The announcement was made before the hanging of former Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein on Saturday morning. Tehran lauded the execution.
 
Jabr said the agreement was forged after lengthy negotiations between leaders of the two states.
 
The credit would be earmarked for the construction and completion of power plants, roads, hospitals, schools, and other infrastructural possibilities, Jabr said.