Iranian goods offer economic lifeline to war-ravaged Iraq

Iranian goods offer economic lifeline to war-ravaged Iraq
By Marc Bastian
Baghdad, 16 July 2008 (AFP)



Leaning on the handlebars of his Iranian-made three-wheel motorbike, Safar Abdul is just one of millions of Iraqis enjoying the tidal wave of goods flooding into war-ravaged Iraq from former foe Iran. Five years after the fall of Saddam Hussein, Iraq's former enemy has finally succeeded in an invasion - of sorts - of Baghdad, as everything from household appliances to medicines sweep into Iraq's shops and markets.

Abdul's Al-Taleb bike was made in Iran under a Chinese license, like all imported three-wheelers, and for the bargain price of $1,200, he is now a man with an income.

"It is good value because of the money I can make from it," the 20-year-old said.

These three-wheelers, nicknamed "satutas" in Arabic - meaning "cute little things" - can be fitted with seats to carry passengers or a flat-bed frame to transport goods, and can overcome Baghdad's gridlocked roads by weaving between vehicles.

Trucks filled with Iranian-made goods thunder across the city much to the consternation of the United States, which is fearful of Iranian influence in Shiite dominated Iraq.

Before the fall of the Baathist regime by the US-led forces in April 2003, Iraq had no well-established trade links with Iran except some with the semi-autonomous Kurdish region in northern Iraq.

But since Saddam's ouster, there has been deluge of Iranian goods into the country, particularly in the strip from Baghdad to Basra, said anthropologist Hosham Dawod from the French national center for scientific research.

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