IRNA – Iraqi Kurds have been engaging in trade exchanges with Iran despite all the US pressures, Iranian consul general in Slemani, a city in Iraqi Kurdistan region, said on Saturday.

That the Iraqi Kurd businesspersons are interested in Iranian commodities proves that the US has suffered defeat in its anti-Iran measures, Sa’dollah Massoudian told the Islamic Republic News Agency (IRNA).

Despite the world’s criticism over Washington’s anti-Iran measures, US President Donald Trump reinstated unilateral sanctions on Tehran on November 5 and imposed as he claimed the “highest level” of economic bans on the Islamic Republic of Iran.

Iranian goods and commodities are vital for the Iraqi Kurds, and this has led the neighboring traders to find ways to continue economic relations with their Iranian counterparts, Massoudian said.

Referring to the three-billion-dollar worth of Iranian non-oil exports to the Iraqi Kurdistan region, the consul general said that Iran grants free visa to the Kurd businesspersons to encourage them to continue trade exchanges with Iran with no concern.

Iran has good relations in various areas with the cities of the Iraqi Kurdistan, with Slemani in particular, he added.

Iran each day grants over 1,000 visas to the Iraqi Kurds, which is by itself a surprising number, regarding the change of season, the official stressed.