Iran, Russia Agree to Boost Economic Cooperation

The Iranian and Russian ministers led the 11th meeting of Iran-Russia Trade Cooperation Commission in Tehran on Tuesday with members of the Iranian-Russian Joint Business Council (JBC) in attendance.

In the meeting held in Iran’s Chamber of Commerce, Industries, Mines and Agriculture, the two countries’ capacities to promote trade ties were discussed and a cooperation agreement was signed.

In a news conference on Tuesday, Zanganeh and Novak underlined the need for promoting mutual cooperation between the two countries in the areas of economy and energy.

The Iranian oil minister emphasized that the value of bilateral trade between the Islamic Republic of Iran and Russia can rise more than tenfold.

"In (the Iranian year of) 1392 (March 21, 2013 - March 20, 2014), the volume of bilateral trade between the two countries amounted to $1.5 billion, which has the capacity to increase to more than 10 times," Zangeneh said.

“We can provide Russia with a wide range of commodities and services they may not have access to due to the illegal sanctions."

Zanganeh also called Russia a “great market for Iranian companies.”

Novak, for his part, hailed greater ties with Tehran, saying, “This event is a milestone in Russian-Iranian commercial relations, which will facilitate trade between the two countries.”

The JBC’s Russian members also expressed the hope that closer ties with Iran could pave the way for neutralization of the US-imposed sanctions on Moscow.

The latest sanctions imposed by the US and EU disrupted the process of fruit import to Russia from European countries like Poland, said Victor Melinkov, the JBC chairman, adding that the situation provides an opportunity for Russia to “compensate for this problem by importing fruits from Iran.”

The next round of Iran-Russia Trade Cooperation Commission is scheduled to be held in Moscow in 2015.