MNA � Iraq Consul General to Iranian city of Mashhad says that there has been a fivefold increase in the numbers of flights from neighboring country of Iraq to Iran over the past three years.

Yassin Sharif, the Consul General of Iraq to the Iranian holy city of Mashhad, has said that the number of flights from Iraq to Iran has quintupled over the past 3 years.

�In the summer, when the schools are closed and the weather is better for travel, the number of trips increases,� the Iraqi Consul General told Iranian ISNA news agency, adding �but in the winter, when the weather is cold and schools are open, fewer Iraqis travel to Iran, which reduces the number of flights.�

Sharif further added that a number of Iranian airliners in addition to Iraqi companies also conduct flights to Najaf, Basra, Erbil, Nasiriyah and Baghdad and vice versa.

He said that in addition to air travel, many Iraqis travel to Iran by land through the border crossings of Mehran and Shalamcheh and take a flight to Iranian cities of Tehran and Mashhad.

He went on to talk about the investment of Iraqi investors in Mashhad, saying that the volume of Iraqi investment in Mashhad has increased this year to a considerable extent.

The Iraqi Consul General added that the Iraqis have mostly invested in Iran�s stock exchange market and especially bought shares of various banks and transportation companies.

With regard to problems facing investments by Iraqis in Iran markets, the Iraqi diplomat said that the fluctuations of the value of Iranian national currency against foreign currencies this year have caused problems for the investments.