Sputnik - Iranian Ambassador to Russia Mehdi Sanaei expressed hope on Tuesday for the creation of a free trade area between Iran and the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU), which would bolster Russia-Iran economic relations.


MOSCOW (Sputnik) — Moscow and Tehran held talks on the establishment of the free trade area between EAEU and Iran in February. After the negotiations, members of the EAEU prime ministerial council signed a directive ordering preparations for a temporary agreement on the establishment of the EAEU-Iran free trade zone.


"The economic relations between our countries are developing, and the signing of the basic agreements has created the ground for that. An 80-percent increase in the turnover last year proves this," Sanaei said during a round table discussion at Rossiya Segodnya International Information Agency.

The EAEU is a regional political and economic bloc that aims to optimize the flow of goods and services between its members. Its current member states are Russia, Kyrgyzstan, Armenia, Belarus, and Kazakhstan.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said in October 2016 that over the last two and a half years the turnover between Russia and Iran increased more than twice.