Iraq's trade minister arrived Wednesday to attend an international trade fair and hold discussions with his Iranian counterpart, the Islamic Republic News Agency reported.
Mohammed Mehdi Saleh and his seven-member delegation traveled by land and crossed into Iran at the Khosrawi border point in the western Kermanshah province, the official news agency said.
It quoted Saleh as saying that he would discuss with Iran's Trade Minister Mohammad Shariat-Madari ways of expanding commercial ties between the two countries. The fair is scheduled from Oct. 1 to 11.
This is the second consecutive year that Iraq is attending the Tehran International Trade Fair, and points at the need for the two neighbors to do business despite their traditional animosity.
Iran and Iraq fought an eight-year war which ended with a U.N.-brokered cease-fire.
Iran claims Iraq still holds 4,000 prisoners of war while Iraq says Iran is holding about 20,000 prisoners. More than 1 million people were killed or wounded on both sides during the 1980-88 war.
Tehran accuses Baghdad of helping Iranian opposition groups and the two sides accuse each other of allowing infiltrators to sneak across their borders for acts of sabotage.
In December, Iraqi Vice President Taha Yassin Ramadan became the highest-ranking Iraqi to visit Tehran since the 1991 Gulf War when he attended the Organization of the Islamic Conference meeting. ti/vj