TEHRAN – Iran and the Eurasian Economic Union (EEU) discussed ways to expand bilateral trade ties.

The chairman of the Trade Promotion Organization of Iran, Valiollah Afkhami-Rad, met the trade minister of the EEU, Andrey Slepnev, in Moscow on Thursday, the IRNA news agency reported.

The two sides agreed that the EEU to start exchanging information with Iran’s Ministry of Industry, Mining, and Trade in autumn.

The Eurasian Economic Commission and Iran are considering the possibility of reaching an agreement on a free trade zone, the Chairman of the EEU's Board Viktor Khristenko said after a meeting with Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Iran to Russia Mehdi Sanaei. 

According to Viktor Khristenko, Iran is an important partner for all the EEU member states. “Cooperation between the EEU and Iran is an important area of our work in strengthening the economic stability of the region,” he said.

The EEU is an economic union of former Soviet states led by Russia to guarantee free transit of goods, services, capital and workers among members.

The treaty establishing the EEU was formally signed by three states which were part of the former Soviet Union: Belarus, Kazakhstan, and Russia. Agreements to enlarge the EEU to Armenia and Kyrgyzstan were signed in 2014.