Iran helping Syria rebuild as part of ‘religious duty’

Oct 07, 2020 14:20 UTC

A deputy minister says Iran is sending building materials to Syria under its “religious duty” to rebuild the West Asian country, seriously damaged by years of a foreign-orchestrated war.

Iran and Syria have a free trade agreement signed in 2012 and most goods exchanged between the two major allies are not subject to taxes and customs tariffs.

The Islamic Republic is under the most draconian sanctions regime imposed by the Trump administration. Last December, US President Donald Trump signed the Caesar Act, sanctioning almost all Syrian economic and trade activities, as well as the country’s government officials.

Earlier this year, Damascus and Tehran signed a comprehensive military-security deal which a senior aide to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad hailed as the first step to overcome the sweeping US economic sanctions.

“Rebuilding countries such as Syria and Iraq is a religious duty,” Iran's Deputy Minister of Industry, Mines, and Trade Hamid Zadboom told Arabic-language Al-Alam television on Monday.

"Iran is ready for this reconstruction, and the countries that need to rebuild, build roads and dams and receive services from Iran, we have this potential and we are able to help," he added.

Zadboom said the largest office of the Iranian Chamber of Commerce will be opened in Damascus for the first time, and mining projects and assistance to the agricultural sector are also underway in the country.

Iranian technical engineering companies in the field of power plants, road construction and construction are also present in Iraq, he said.

Iraq is a major trade partner of Iran despite US efforts to drive away from the Islamic Republic orbit.

Iraq imports 1200-1500 megawatts a day of electricity from Iran, in addition to 38 million cubic meters of natural gas to power 40 percent of its electricity generation.

In addition to natural gas and electricity, Iraq imports a wide range of goods from Iran including food, agricultural products, home appliances, and air conditioners.