TEHRAN – The Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU), of which Iran became a temporary member in 2018, has given the Islamic Republic a three-year time to become a permanent member of the union, Iranian Energy Minister Reza Ardakanian said.

Speaking to the press on the sidelines of a cabinet meeting on Wednesday, the official noted that Iran attended the recent EAEU summit in Armenia and the trade agreement between Iran and the union will officially come into force on October 27.

The deal was finalized by Iran’s Ambassador to Russia Mehdi Sanayee and chief of the Eurasian Economic Commission (EEC) Tigran Sarkisyan in a meeting in Moscow in late August.

“Based on this agreement, about 840 commodity items will be subject to preferential tariffs, which means tariffs on some goods will be reduced and some will become zero tariffs,” he said.

“We have invited EAEU’s secretary general to visit Iran, to assess the country’s infrastructure like roads and maritime transportation systems and also to visit affiliated organizations such as customs, the central bank, Institute of Standards and Industrial Research of Iran and Trade Promotion Organization (TPO)”, the minister informed. 

Ardakanian said the accession would be a major breakthrough for Iran’s trade as it would allow exports on zero tariffs for 70 products while 503 other items would enjoy lowered duties.

“We can supply our goods and products to their markets through the land borders of the Republic of Armenia as well as sea borders of the Russian Federation and Kazakhstan,” said Ardakanian, making a reference to the countries members to the EAEU which also includes Belarus and Kyrgyzstan.

Accompanied by a delegation including the energy minister, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani visited Armenia to attend the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU) Summit on Tuesday.

The summit, which began on October 1 in the Armenian capital, was aimed at building closer economic ties between member states Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, and Russia, as well as with nonmember states.

EF/MA