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TRADE

Iranian goods offer lifeline to Iraqis

AFP. Baghdad
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 every tiling 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 dollars, 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 tilings" -- can be fitted with seats to carry passengers oi 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 overthrow of the Baathist regime by US-led forces in April 2003, Iraq had no well established trade links with Iran, apart from some with the semi-autonomous Kurdish region in northern Iraq.
But since Saddam's ouster, there has been a deluge of
Iranian goods into the country, particularly in the strip from Baghdad to Basra, said anthropologist Hosham Dawod, from the French national centre for scientific research.
"Some sources quote figures such as eight billion dol-
lars" for the value of Iranian imports in 2008, he said, added there were no official import figures.
-- 'Iranian products are not truly political tools' --
Shoppers in the Shiite district of Kadhimiyah in northwest Baghdad snatch up not
only Iranian-made cookers, fridges, air-conditioning units and generators, but also toys, rugs and medicines.
Household electrical goods are "good sellers," said shopkeeper Abdul Ridha Abed Saleh, 51, at his store in Al-Shosa Street.
"It is not that they are good quality, but they use less electricity and are good value," he said.
In the store opposite, Ala al-Salaf also stocks Iranian goods and shared this opinion, saying simply they are "good value but bad quality. And
Iraqis are starting to understand".
But this market dominance is under threat from alternative Far East exporters.
Shopkeeper Yasser Idan sells Iranian toys and carpets from his store in Bab Al-Qibla Street but says buyers prefer Chinese products.
"They look better, are more colourful and better quality," he said.
"If the Iranians do not change they will not be able to compete with products from Taiwan, China and others," anthropologist Dawod warned.
But the future is still bright for some Iranian goods.
Iranian foods such as yoghurt, cheese, vegetables, biscuits and spices all sell well. "The balance of quality and price is good," greengrocer Khalid Fadel said.
Iranian cars are also popular. In Kut, southwest of Baghdad, a state car importer reported a three-month waiting list for orders arriving in Iraq.
Meanwhile, religious tourism continues to thrive with an estimated two million pilgrims travelling to Iraq's Shiite shrine cities such as Najaf and Karbala in 2007, Dawod said, with Iranians accounting for 90 percent.
Despite US concerns about Iranian involvement in Iraq, Dawod said the imports do not translate into political-influence and are simply the result of pragmatic economics.
"Iranian products are not truly political tools. The goods sold in Iraq are simply a breath of fresh air for the Iranian economy, " he said.