Iran signs up with Russia-led free trade zone – media

Iran and the Russia-led Eurasian Economic Union (EEU) on Thursday sealed a memorandum on free trade, RIA Novosti reports.

According to the media outlet, the signing ceremony took place in Tehran on the territory of the International Exhibition Center. The document was reportedly signed in the presence of Deputy Minister of Industry, Mine and Trade Alireza Peyman-Pak, who is also the head of Iran’s Trade Promotion Organization.

The EEU, which is based on the Customs Union of Russia, Kazakhstan and Belarus, was established in 2015. It was later joined by Armenia and Kyrgyzstan. The union is designed to ensure the free movement of goods, services, capital, and workers between member nations.

Iran has previously been able to exchange goods with EEU member states on the basis of preferential trade. The union has provided discounts for Iranian goods, while Tehran has granted preferences to items originating from the Eurasian bloc.

News that the Islamic Republic is joining the EEU free-trade zone comes as cooperation between Russia and Iran has started expanding rapidly amid Western sanctions against the two countries. Between January and October 2022, trade turnover between Moscow and Tehran reached $4 billion, surpassing the figure for all of 2021, according to Russia’s Customs Service. Russian exports to Iran surged by 27%, while imports from the country jumped by 10%, the data showed.

Last year, the nations reached a number of agreements, including arrangements for the purchase of aircraft equipment, and for the joint construction of gas pipelines and gas field development.

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