ECONOMIC IDEAL – Moscow, Oct 24, IRNA – Iran and Russia as two neighbors connected through the Caspian Sea have great capacities to foster bilateral cooperation but their trade relations are not at favorable level now despite boost in strategic ties in recent years.
From two sides of the Caspian Sea, efforts have been made to remove obstacles and develop cooperation in economic issues.
Importance of strengthening relations between Iran and Russia after the 2015 landmark agreement, the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), Moscow’s strong support for Iran’s stance in the international arenas and the two sides’ cooperation in Syria have doubled.
Iran, Russia and Turkey are three guarantors of peace in Syria.
Experts believe that Tehran and Moscow have enormous capacities to expand their economic relations in both sanctions and pandemic eras.
The two countries aim at increasing the volume of trade exchange as they formed a high council to follow the issue; however, no tangible change has been seen yet.
Meanwhile, Tehran-Moscow cooperation has not decreased despite the pandemic which has postponed many world meetings and exchanges as it has killed over 1,100,000 people worldwide.
Earlier, the head of the Russia-Iran chamber of commerce Vladimir Obidnov announced that the level of trade between the two countries is less than two billion dollars in a year, but it is not acceptable regarding capacities in both countries.
Obidnov referred to the banking issue as an obstacle to boost bilateral economic cooperation.
Two days ago, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said her country continues cooperation with Iran at an excellent level despite the US threats and the pandemic.
Elsewhere, Iran’s Ambassador to Moscow Kazem Jalali has stressed the importance of making development in railroad projects in order to witness an unprecedented increase in bilateral cooperation with Russia.
Jalali said the 16th Iran-Russia joint economic commission meeting is slated for the current year.
He believed the meeting will create new grounds for an economic boom in the country.
About Iran’s accession to Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU), the ambassador noted that the process is to be gone through.
As Jalali stressed, Iran can make use of membership in EAEU as the country is now under illegal sanctions.
From 2015, EAEU with five members, including Russia, Kazakhstan, Belarus, Kyrgyzstan and Armenia started work to take economic policies on free trade agreements with other states.
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