TEHRAN - The value of Iran’s exports to Russia rose 26 percent in the past Iranian calendar year (ended on March 19), as compared to the preceding year, an official with Iran’s Trade Promotion Organization (TPO) said.

Akbar Godari said that 2.185 million tons of products worth $946 million were exported to Russia in the previous Iranian year, while a year earlier the Islamic Republic had exported only 1.436 million tons of goods valued at $751 million to the country.

According to the official, Iran’s exports to Russia also increased by 56 percent in terms of weight during the previous year.

Agricultural products, petrochemicals, and oil-based products were the top exported products to Russia in the mentioned year.

Referring to the volume of imports from Russia in the past year, Godari stated: “3.353 million tons of goods worth $1.691 billion were also imported from Russia in the previous year.”

The imports have grown by nine percent in terms of value and 27 percent in terms of weight, he said.

In line with the two countries’ determination to increase the level of trade exchanges, during a video conference meeting between the deputy transport ministers of Iran and Russia on November 28, 2023, the two sides discussed ways of increasing annual transit through Iran to 10 million tons.

In this virtual meeting, the two sides discussed transportation cooperation between the two countries in all areas including rail, road, and sea.

Speaking in this meeting, Iranian Deputy Transport Minister Shahryiar Afandizadeh referred to the high potential for port cooperation between the two countries, especially in the Caspian Sea, and noted that there is a good capacity in Iran’s northern ports for receiving goods sent from Russia and sending them to desired destinations using combined transportation methods.

The officials also discussed the Rasht-Astara railway project and the representative of the Iranian contractor of the project, namely the Construction and Development of Transportation Infrastructures Company, presented a report on the project’s physical progress.

Iran and Russia have been taking serious steps to boost their mutual trade over the past few years.

In late January, Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi said that the Islamic Republic and Russia have reached an agreement to boost the trade between the two countries up to $10 billion.

“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 on January 21, upon arrival to Tehran after a two-day visit to Moscow.

As major players in the world and West Asia’s political and economic scene, Iran and Russia have been expanding political and economic ties for many years, however, the relations between the two countries have entered a whole new level over the past few months.

The imposition of sanctions on both countries has been a major factor in bringing the two sides closer together, making them a strong alliance against U.S. pressures. Over the past few months, senior officials from the two sides have been meeting and visiting each other to consolidate bilateral cooperation in various fields, including energy, oil, gas, and transit, as well as diplomatic and political relations.

As the most significant event among the mentioned exchanges, Russia’s President Vladimir Putin visited Tehran on July 19 to attend the 7th Summit of the Guarantor States of the Astana Process.

During his visit to Tehran Putin met with Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyed Ali Khamenei and President Raisi and exchanged views on the recent development in the world and the relations between the two countries.

In these meetings, the two sides reached new agreements and stressed the need to take the necessary measures for broadening political and economic ties between the two countries to nullify the impacts of the U.S. sanctions.

Among other issues, Tehran and Moscow have been negotiating a free trade agreement to ensure acceleration in the economic relations between the two countries.

EF/