Iran exported around 3.8 million tons of commodities worth $967 million to the UAE during the first quarter of the current fiscal year (March 20-June 20), according to the director general of Trade Promotion Organization of Iran's Arab-African Affairs Office.
“The figures indicate a 39% and 8% growth in terms of tonnage and value respectively compared with the corresponding period of last year,” Farzad Piltan told Mehr News Agency.
Watermelon with $19 million and tomato with $18.47 million topped the list of Iran’s exports to the Persian Gulf Arab country during the three-month period under review.
Piltan noted that the growth in exports comes despite obstacles to bilateral trade caused by unilateral US sanctions and challenges posed by the new coronavirus pandemic.
According to Iran’s Ports and Maritime Organization, the two countries resumed bilateral marine trade early June after a three-month hiatus due to the pandemic.
Dubai-based Emirates airlines resumed flights between the two countries earlier this month with its 777-31H aircraft landing at Tehran's Imam Khomeini International Airport on Friday, July 17.
According to Piltan, bilateral trade between Iran and the UAE hovers around $12 billion per year.
The UAE was the fourth biggest destination of Iranian exports in the fiscal 2019-20, as the Arab country imported $4.5 billion worth of commodities to the Islamic Republic during the period.
The UAE was the second biggest exporter to Iran (after China) in the same year, as the Arab country exported $8.9 billion worth of goods to the Islamic Republic in the fiscal 2019-20.