TEHRAN – Iran and Russia have signed two memorandums of understanding (MOU) as well as the draft of a legal agreement to broaden cooperation between the customs of the two countries, IRIB reported.

The MOUs were inked by Head of Islamic Republic of Iran Customs Administration (IRICA) Alireza Moghadasi and Head of Russia’s Federal Customs Service Vladimir Bulavin in Moscow on Thursday.

Holding training courses, combating customs violations, and identifying competent economic operators to implement a green customs channel were the subjects of the mentioned MOUs and the legal agreement.

Speaking at the signing ceremony, Bulavin referred to the need for cooperation between Iran and Russia to set up a green customs channel, saying: "If we identify competent operators in the two countries, we can sign a new agreement to set up the green customs."

He expressed satisfaction with the upward trend in economic relations between the two countries and stressed: "By launching a green customs channel and using a joint transit system between Iran, Russia, and the Republic of Azerbaijan, the vision of economic relations between the two countries will be realized quickly."

Bulavin pointed to the imposition of heavy sanctions against Russia and said: "Given that the Islamic Republic of Iran has also been under U.S. and Western sanctions for many years, we can cooperate to overcome these sanctions by mutual convergence."

Moghadasi for his part mentioned the recent visit of a Russian economic delegation to Tehran, and said: "Good agreements were reached during the meeting of the two countries’ joint economic committee which will be implemented as soon as possible."

"Fortunately, economic relations in all sectors including export, import, and transit are growing and will grow further as some customs barriers are removed," Moghadasi said.

Referring to the unjust U.S. sanctions against Iran, he said: "Although sanctions can be a threat to the economy, with the resilience of the Iranian people, we have turned sanctions into opportunities."

He called for greater cooperation and exchange of experiences between Tehran and Moscow to counter and neutralize the negative impacts and consequences of the U.S. sanctions.

EF/MA

Photo: IRICA Head Alireza Moghadasi (L) and Head of Russia’s Federal Customs Service Vladimir Bulavin sign MOU documents in Moscow on Thursday.