TEHRAN- Iran’s ambassador to Russia, Kazem Jalali, has said authorities in Tehran and Moscow are exploring the formation of a cooperative shipping firm as part of efforts to strengthen strategic cooperation.

Jalali made the announcement in an interview with the Rossiya-24 TV channel on Friday as he pointed to efforts to strengthen Tehran-Moscow’s maritime fleet.

“There is a need to reinforce our ports; there is a need to strengthen the shipping fleet. Even to create a joint shipping company. I just had a conversation with First Deputy Prime Minister of Russia Andrey Belousov. Iran’s Minister of Transport also discussed this topic with him. Our Russian counterparts welcomed the creation of a joint shipping company,” the Iranian diplomat stressed.

He continued by saying that “countries need to develop ports and link them like railroads. The potential for freight shipping is huge there.”

Moscow and Tehran are collaborating on a number of fronts to promote bilateral commerce, hasten development of transport links like the North-South Transit Corridor and its Caspian Sea component, and integrate their banking systems to make it easier to conduct financial operations.

The move comes as Iran and Russia prepare to conclude a long-term strategic cooperation deal, which will open up several new areas for collaboration.

Official sources asserted that trade exchanges between the two nations quadrupled in 2022.

Russia became Iran’s greatest foreign investor during the Iranian calendar year that ended in March with investments totaling $2.76 billion.

In an effort to lessen Western control over the global economy, the two sides also want to see a decline in the use of U.S. dollar in regional and international trade.

The bilateral cooperation comes despite draconian Western sanctions, spearheaded by the U.S., on both Tehran and Moscow.

Iran has been subject to unilateral U.S. sanctions since former President Donald Trump unilaterally withdrew the U.S. from the Iran nuclear agreement in May 2018 and began a campaign of “maximum pressure” against Iran’s economy.