TEHRAN – Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi said on Friday that the Islamic Republic and Russia have reached an agreement to boost the trade between the two countries up to $10 billion, IRNA reported.

“We agreed to remove trade barriers and boost the economic exchanges between the two countries. Currently, the level of mutual trade is not acceptable, so the two countries agreed to increase trade to $10 billion a year,” Raisi said upon arrival to Tehran after a two-day visit to Moscow.

The president also noted that the two sides have also discussed monetary and banking issues during his talks with Russian officials.

“The two countries can take steps to break the dominance of the dollar over monetary and banking relations and trade with the national currency," Raisi stressed.

The two countries also agreed to identify mutual agricultural capacities as well as suitable areas for the exchange of agricultural products in order to increase the level of trade in the agricultural sector, according to the official.

He went on to say that the Islamic Republic of Iran has very good capacities in the field of transit and transportation, saying: “During this visit, it was agreed to activate the north-south corridor. This transit route will make the time and distance of transiting goods from Russia and different northern countries to the southern regions much shorter.”

Important energy cooperation MOUs signed

Iranian Oil Minister Javad Oji who accompanied President Raisi in his visit to Russia also announced the signing of important documents on energy cooperation between Iran and Russia during the mentioned trip.

Speaking to the press after returning to Tehran, Oji said: “During the visit to Russia, numerous meetings were held with Russia’s deputy prime minister, minister of energy, and senior private sector executives in the field of oil and gas in order to expand joint cooperation.”

“Important decisions were made in these negotiations and important documents were signed by the parties,” he stated.

Russia to finalize $5b credit line for Iran

Another outcome of the visit of the Iranian president to Russia has been the finalization of the previously agreed $5 billion credit line for the completion of several development projects in Iran.

In this regard, Iranian Finance and Economic Affairs Minister Ehsan Khandouzi noted that the mentioned credit line is going to be mainly allocated to the North-South Corridor projects.

Completion of the North-South Corridor via rail transit that could connect southern Iran and the Persian Gulf to Central Asia and Europe was one of the pillars of the agreement, under which good decisions were made for the Rasht-Astara and Incheh Boroun-Garmsar railways, Khandouzi said.

It was decided to finance the Rasht-Astara Railway through the credit line that had previously been agreed between the two countries; Therefore, this project will be financed by Russia in the form of the mentioned credit line, he added.

In addition to financing the Rasht-Astara railway section and possibly the purchase of 200 locomotives, the mentioned credit line will also be used to finance the Sirik Power plant whose construction has already been started.

EF/MA