Iran needs no financial assistance – Planning Minister

BAGHDAD / IraqiNews.com: The Iraqi Planning Minister disclosed that Iraq does not need any financial assistance, praising the desire of the Iranian government to support reconstructing Iraq, according to IRNA news agency today. IRNA quoted Minister Ali Yousif al-Shukri, during the signing of a memorandum, saying that “we noticed that the Iranian officials want to extend support to Iraq, which is in need of rehabilitating human resources and specialized cadres, due to a thirty year blockade to the outside world”. He pointed out necessity to develop relations between the two countries. Shukri confirmed that Iraq does not need financial assistance as its budget is the second largest in the Arab world, and that it was able to pay 15 billion of its debts for the last year. On the other side, Assistant Iranian President Frouzenda expressed readiness to extend all assistance in fields of reconstruction, pointing out that Iran is ready to bear some of the costs of the agreement reached in the educational field. Iraqi Planning Minister met  First Deputy of the Iranian President Mohammed Reza and called for provision of support to reconstruct Iraq, according to Iranian Meh news agency.