Senior economic officials from Iran and Armenia, in a meeting in Tehran, explored avenues for expansion of economic relations.
During the meeting, President of Iran Chamber of Commerce, Industry, Mines and Agriculture Gholam Hossein Shafei and Armenian Deputy Minister of Economy Varos Simonyan stressed that Iran and Armenia can be good partners in the region and in the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU) as well.
Noting that Armenia is the only EAEU member country having joint borders with Iran, the president of Iran’s Chamber of Commerce said that economic relations with Armenia is of special significance to Iran.
Shafei referred to longstanding relations between the two neighboring countries while regretting that economic ties between Tehran and Yerevan are lagging behind the political relations between the two countries.
He said that Iran and Armenia enjoy a significant capacity for cooperation in different areas including, mines, agriculture and livestock.
Referring to arbitrary sanctions on Iran as the main obstacle on the way of promotion of ties with Armenia, Shafei said that once the sanctions are removed, Tehran and Yerevan can freely continue with their trade and economic relations.
The Armenian side, for his part, hailed Iran’s special position in the region, saying that his country attaches special importance to relations with Iran.
“We are in Tehran to help fulfil the already signed agreements between the two countries”, Simonyan said, adding that Armenia feels duty-bound to fulfil its commitments.
He said that Armenia can provide Iran’s access to a 200-million market of the Eurasian Economic Union.
Simonyan also signaled Yerevan’s readiness to pave the way for preferential trade of Iran with third countries.