Eurasian Economic Union Good Opportunity for Iran - Rouhani

By Staff, Agencies

Iranian President Hassan Rouhani called for closer interaction with the Eurasian Economic Union [EAEU] amid the pressure of sanctions.

Rouhani on Tuesday received a report on the implementation of free trade deals with the Eurasian Economic Union at a meeting of t Iran’s Economic Coordination Headquarters.

He said the figures on trade exchanges with the union during the past year indicate that working with the EAEU has opened the door to a new market for the export of Iranian products.

Among the perfect opportunities that Iran should seize are the economic and trade capacities available in the Eurasian region, he said.

“Iran’s presence in the EAEU is much more important than before under the current circumstances of economic war and the coronavirus consequences,” Rouhani stressed.

In June 2019, the Iranian parliament ratified an agreement that allows the administration to join a free trade zone with the EAEU countries.

The agreement, signed in Kazakhstan in May 2018, sets the main rules of trade between the EAEU, Iran and those of the World Trade Organization [WTO], of which Iran is not a member.

The free trade zone is planned to be in effect for four years, under which the EAEU will grant Iran tariff concessions on more than 500 items.

The Eurasian Economic Union includes Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Russia. Iran and EAEU members started to develop the agreement on the free trade in 2015, though the signing was postponed several times.