TEHRAN- The value of Iran’s trade with the Caspian Sea littoral states rose 40 percent in the first half of the current Iranian calendar year (March 21-September 22), as compared to the same period of time in the previous year, a senior official with Iran’s Trade Promotion Organization (TPO) said.

According to Rahmatollah Khormali, the director-general of the TPO's office of Central Asia, Caucasus, and Russia, the Islamic Republic’s trade with the mentioned countries (namely Russia, Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan and Turkmenistan) stood at $3.5 billion in the previous Iranian calendar year.

Khormali said considering the current trend of the trade exchanges the figure is expected to exceed $4 billion in the current year.

EF/MA