Russia says its trade with Iran has increased by 70.9 percent after the sanctions against the Islamic Republic were removed earlier this year.
Russia’s Ambassador to Tehran Levan Dzhagaryan was quoted by the media as saying that the value of trade between Iran and Russia had already reached $697 million since January.
"In particular, Russian exports to Iran jumped by 91.5 percent and amounted to $697 million. Russian imports from Iran increased by 16 percent to $158 million. The boost in trade was achieved by supplies of machinery, ground vehicles and weapons," Russia Today quoted Dzhagaryan as saying in a report on its website.
He added that the removal of the sanctions against Iran had triggered a surge in interest from Russian firms in doing business with the country.
“Russian companies are resuming existing ties with Iran, while new firms are ready to get access to the market. Of course, the further expansion of trade is one of the main priorities of the bilateral cooperation with Iran,” Dzhagaryan further added.
The envoy also emphasized that Russia expects a surge in the number of Iranian tourists that would visit Moscow this year.
"Last year, the Russian diplomatic mission in Iran issued about 35,000 visas, mostly travel, to Iranian citizens. In addition, for the first time Iran entered the top 20 countries by number of tourists visiting Russia. It's safe to say that last year's record number of Iranian tourists visiting Russia will be broken," Dzhagaryan said.
On January 16, Iran and the five permanent members of the UN Security Council the United States, Britain, France, China and Russia plus Germany started implementing the nuclear agreement, known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), which they reached on July 14, 2015.
The JCPOA envisages Tehran scaling back its nuclear program in return for the lifting of all nuclear-related sanctions on the Islamic Republic.