TEHRAN- Mahmoud Vaezi, Iran's minister of communications and information technology who is also the chairman of Iran-Russia Joint Economic Committee, and Veronika Nikishina, member of the board and also minister for trade of the Eurasian Economic Commission, discussed different aspects of a free trade agreement which is due to be signed between the two sides.

The discussions were made in St. Petersburg on Thursday on the sidelines of the 21st St. Petersburg International Economic Forum (SPIEF 2017), held from June 1 to 3, IRNA reported.

The Moscow-led Eurasian Economic Union aims to finalize a free trade deal with Iran by the end of the year, in an attempt by Russia and its fellow members to deepen ties with Tehran.

Reaching a deal on free trade would represent a notable victory for the nascent EEU — a single market of Russia, Kazakhstan, Belarus, Kyrgyzstan and Armenia set up in 2015 — and mark a significant strengthening of relations between Iran and the former Soviet republics.

MA