TEHRAN- In a meeting between Iranian Ambassador to Russia Kazem Jalali and Russian Deputy Energy Minister Anatoly Tikhonov, the two sides agreed on holding the 16th Iran-Russia Joint Economic Committee online or face to face in September, IRNA reported.

Jalali and Tikhonov also discussed the process of the latest energy cooperation between the two countries.

Holding a working group on energy cooperation between the two countries and the implementation of several new projects in the fields of agriculture, energy, and transportation were among the topics discussed during the meeting. 

In mid-February, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Igor Morgulov said that the trade turnover between Iran and Russia has followed an upward trend in the past two years despite the challenging external conditions, Tass reported.

"Despite the challenging external conditions, the Russian-Iranian trade turnover is rising. It increased to $2 billion last year," he said.

Mentioning the preferential trade agreement between Iran and the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU), Morgulov expressed hope that the agreement would facilitate the trade between the two sides and give an extra impetus to the expansion of ties.

According to the official data, trade turnover between Russia and Iran amounted to $1.74 billion in 2018 and $1.589 billion in the period between January-September 2019. 

Agriculture products are the backbone of trade turnover between the countries. Trade in the agriculture sector amounted to 1.283 billion in January-September 2019, an increase of 41.6 percent year-on-year.

In late December 2019, Moscow's commercial representative in Tehran, Rustam Zhiganshin had announced that more than 50 percent of Iran and Russia’s total bilateral trade is being conducted through national currencies.

"If in 2018 payments in national currencies comprised 40 percent [of the two countries’ trade], in 2019 this quota has already exceeded 50 percent," Zhiganshin told sputnik.

Russia’s exports to Iran include machinery, steel, wagons, wood, vegetable oil, corn, barley, red meat, and other goods, while its imports from the Islamic Republic are mostly dairy products, vegetables, and fruits.

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Photo: Iranian Ambassador to Russia Kazem Jalali (R) and Russian Deputy Energy Minister Anatoly Tikhonov discuss energy and economic cooperation between the two sides in a meeting in Moscow.