Financial Tribune - Iran and Armenia discussed the possibility of establishing a special-purpose vehicle for conducting trade between the two neighboring countries.

The issues were discussed at a meeting that surveyed ways of expanding bilateral ties held at Tehran Chamber of Commerce, Industries, Mines and Agriculture on Monday.

The Iranian side suggested that the vehicle could turn out to be something like the Instrument in Support of Trade Exchanges (INSTEX), the brainchild of the European Union after the US unilaterally pulled out of Iran nuclear deal last year and unleashed tough sanctions.

The system, though not yet launched by Europe, is similar to a barter deal, mainly in the form of Iran selling oil to Europe in exchange for importing other commodities.

Present at the Monday event were Armenian Ambassador to Iran Artashes Tumanyan, Secretary-General of TCCIM Bahman Eshqi, TCCIM’s Deputy for International Affairs Hesameddin Hallaj, Chairman of Iran-Armenia Chamber of Commerce Hervik Yarijanian, the head of Caucasian Affairs Bureau with the Iranian Foreign Ministry, Mohsen Faghani, and representatives of Iranian and Armenian businesspeople and traders.