The government of Iraq has vowed to facilitate the repayment of some $0.9 billion worth of debts to Iranian companies that were involved in various business and construction projects in the Arab country before the 2013 rise of the Daesh (ISIS) terrorist group.

According to The Iran Project, chairman of Iran’s Chamber of Commerce (ICCIMA) said on Monday that Iraqi authorities had vowed during a trip last week by Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian to the country to sort out the issue of arrears owed by Iranian companies.

“It was agreed that a taskforce made up of representatives from the two countries prepare the ground for the repayment of these arrears,” said Samad Hassanzadeh.

Hassanzadeh said the debt is owed to Iranian companies for technical and engineering services they carried out in Iraq before the rise of Daesh.

Iraq declared victory against Daesh in 2017 after the terrorist group was defeated in many parts of the country.

Iranian companies were a major partner in Iraq’s construction efforts before the rise of Daesh and after an eight-year US-led occupation ended in 2011.

Engineering and construction firms from Iran are still present in many projects in Iraq as Baghdad seeks to rely on good political relations with Tehran to expand its economy.

Pezeshkian ended a three-day visit to Iraq on Friday. During the visit, the two countries signed some 14 new documents to further expand their economic and trade cooperationc