TEHRAN - The governors of Russia’s Astrakhan and Iran’s Mazandaran provinces stressed the need for expanding trade and economic ties between the two countries, IRNA reported on Tuesday.

According to the report, addressing Iranian businessmen and merchants in Babolsar, Mazandaran Province, Iran's Mazandaran Province's Governor-General Rabi’ Fallah and his counterpart from Astrakhan Alexander Zhiklin pledged to remove hurdles like high tariffs for Iranian goods, high costs of transport and banking problems.