TEHRAN - Iran and Russia are going to launch a permanent container shipping line in the Caspian Sea by September to expand mutual trade, a member of Iran-Russia Joint Chamber of Commerce said.

This shipping route is going to be launched in line with the two countries' cooperation for the activation of the International North-South Transport Corridor, the portal of the Iranian Transport Ministry quoted Seyed Jalil Jalalifar as saying.

Iran has been unable to raise the level of exports of agricultural products and foodstuff to Russia via the Caspian Sea for years due to the lack of container ships, Jalalifar noted, adding that the new shipping route will include cargo ships equipped with refrigerated containers.

The official noted that the governments of the two countries have been taking necessary measures for preparing the infrastructure for activating this route.

He added that according to a decision made by the two countries’ North-South Corridor joint taskforce, two container ships will begin carrying goods between Russia’s port of Astrakhan and two Iranian ports of Caspian and Qazian at Bandar-e Anzali, north of Iran.

As reported, the 16th meeting of the Iran-Russia Joint Economic Committee is also scheduled to be held September.

In a telephone conversation in April, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin discussed ways to maintain and expand trade ties amid the coronavirus outbreak.

Highlighting the close and strategic relations between Iran and Russia in recent years, Rouhani stressed the need to develop bilateral relations and cooperation, especially in the fields of trade, economy, science, and medicine.

In late July, the chairman of Iran-Russia Joint Chamber of Commerce announced that Iran’s exports to Russia increased 20 percent during the first quarter of the current Iranian calendar year (March 20-June 20) despite the pandemic.

Hadi Tizhoosh Taban noted that the growth in the exports indicates that the coronavirus pandemic has not affected trade between the two neighbors.

EF/MA