Turkish Minister Says Ankara to Sell Tehran Rail Tracks in Barter Deal
TEHRAN (Tasnim) – Turkey's Transport Minister Binali Yildirim said Ankara will buy Iran’s oil in exchange of train rails as a part a barter deal between the two neighboring countries.
Yildirim said Turkey has inked a deal with Iran whereby it will import Iranian oil in exchange for train rails, which are made in Karabuk.
“Karabuk has been one of the oldest industrial hubs of the Turkish Republic… Karabuk has now become an important train rail producer and exporter. We recently made an 80-million-euro agreement with Iran to sell train rails,” he said, Railly News reported on Friday.
Yildirim added that Turkish refinery TUPRAS will buy oil from Iran.
Back in April, Iran and Turkey signed eight memorandums of understanding (MoUs) to strengthen bilateral cooperation in various areas.
The cooperation documents were signed in a ceremony in Ankara on April 16, attended by Iranian President Hassan Rouhani and his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyib Erdogan.
The documents covered a range of fields, including higher education, social security, plant maintenance services and standardization.
Iran and Turkey have ramped up efforts in recent months to boost bilateral trade after implementation of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), a lasting nuclear deal between Iran and the Group 5+1 (Russia, China, the US, Britain, France and Germany).
The deal took effect on January 16, terminating all nuclear-related sanctions on Iran.
