Iran’s Minister of Industry, Mine, and Trade Abbas Aliabadi has appreciated a recent agreement with the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU) which he said further strengthens Iran’s presence in the 170-million-people market of the bloc.

According to The Iran Project,In an exclusive interview with IRNA on Friday, he said that the EAEU members need Iran’s different industrial and economic capabilities.

“We are presently importing agricultural items, including corn and wheat, from these countries,” the minister said, adding that the FTA will give a boost to relations between the two sides.

Referring to the tough sanctions on Iran, he said that the FTA is a good chance for the country’s presence in the global markets.

Iran and the EAEU signed an FTA in St. Petersburg, Russia, on Monday.

Under the terms of the agreement, Iran and the five-member bloc will lift tariffs on 87% of the items being exchanged between them.

The rest 13% includes items that each of the six parties consider as sensitive items whose free imports may damage their domestic industry or agriculture.