The Iranian Minister of Information and Communication Technology Seyed Sattar Hashemi and the Iraqi Ambassador in Tehran Naseer Abdul Mohsen Abdullah in a meeting on Wednesday negotiated ways to increase bilateral cooperation in the field of ICT including better communication network service during Arbaeen pilgrimage in Iraq.
“Iran and Iraq shall increase
cooperation in providing a quality communication network to the pilgrims for
the proper convention of the Arbaeen ceremony,” Hashemi said referring to the 40th
day of mourning following Ashura, the religious ritual commemorating martyrdom of
the third Shia Imam, Hussain ibn Ali, the grandson of the Prophet Muhammad
(PBUH), in 680 AD in Karbala Desert in Iraq.
He pointed out the cultural and
religious bonds between the two countries and said, “Tehran and Baghdad have been
cooperating for years in the field of broadband for the proper holding of the
Arbaeen ceremony as a result of which the communication infrastructure in this
ceremony has a good quality.”
Hashemi said increasing the cooperation
in the field of providing a quality network for Arbaeen pilgrims was a
necessary step in improving the communication between Arbaeen pilgrims and
their families and their greater satisfaction, which shall be on the agenda of
both countries.
E-government experience transfer
The Iranian minister also referred
to the cooperation with Iraq in the field of smart government and cyber security
and said the transfer of experience in this regard was another area of
cooperation with Iraq.
He referred to the plans of the
Ministry of Information Communication Technology in Iran for the development of
new technologies, specially artificial intelligence, and said serious planning
has been carried out in Iran so that the capacity of such technologies can be
tapped.
“We can cooperate with Iraq in
this area as well,” Hashemi added, “Joint investment in the field of
international transit, marine fiber cables and the establishment of large data
centers in Iran are the right and proper areas for cooperation between the two
countries.”
In the meeting, the Iraqi envoy in
Iran Naseer Abdul Mohsen Abdullah referred to the strong and extensive ties between
the two countries.
“High-ranking officials of the
two countries have stressed that exchanges between Iran and Iraq should reach
$20 billion per year. Part of these exchanges will be related to the field of information
and communication technology, which we are trying to achieve.”
He said artificial intelligence,
cyber security and communication infrastructure in Iraq are among the areas in
which there is a need for joint cooperation with neighboring Iran.
The Iraqi ambassador also pointed
to the travel of 8 to 10 million Iranian pilgrims to Iraq and 3 to 4 million
Iraqi pilgrims to Iran annually and said, “This volume of exchange requires a special
cooperation that must be carried out between the two countries.”