Armenia’s State Revenue Committee (SRC) has announced that restrictions at the country’s main border crossing with Iran has been lifted nearly four months after they were introduced to contain the coronavirus pandemic.
Iran resumed exports to Armenia via Nordooz border crossing in a limited quantity in early April. The border crossing is now fully active without restrictions, however.
The SRC said in a statement that all operations at Meghri border crossing, located on the southern border with Iran and known on the other side as Nordooz, had returned to the normal mode.
It said requirements introduced in late February following the spread of the pandemic had been lifted for good.
Police had been escorting Iranian vehicles inside Armenia while cargoes were checked and reloaded at the border to prevent any spread of the virus.
The SRC said all types of cargo from Iran, including those destined for other countries, would be processed in Meghri.
Armenia still maintains a state of emergency over the spread of the virus although it has eased some of its restrictions to allow economic activity to resume.
Iran’s borders with Iraq, Iraqi Kurdistan region, Turkey, Afghanistan and Pakistan have also been reopened as of June 20, months after they were closed over the pandemic outbreak.
Iran-Armenia trade
The Republic of Armenia is the second top destination for Iranian exports in Eurasia. It imported around $430 million worth of Iranian cargoes in the year ending March 19, according to Iranian government figures.
The commercial exchange between Iran and Armenia between January and April 2020 stood at $101.06 million to register a 0.37% decline compared to the corresponding period in 2019.
Iran plans to increase the value and volume of its exports to Armenia and through the country to other members of the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU) more than seven months after Tehran reached an agreement with the bloc to lower trade tariffs between the two sides.
Iranian government figures shows that trade with EAEU, which comprises of Russia, Armenia, Kazakhstan, Belarus and Kyrgyzstan, had exceeded $2.1 billion before the pandemic caused a significant decline in exchanges across the borders.