Members of the Russian-led Eurasian Economic Union (EEU) have signed a fully-fledged free trade agreement with Iran, Russia's economy ministry and the EEU said on Monday.
Russian Economic Development Minister Maxim Reshetnikov, Sputnik/Mikhail Klimentyev/Kremlin via Reuters
Members of the Russian-led Eurasian Economic Union (EEU) have signed a fully-fledged free trade agreement with Iran, Russia's economy ministry and the EEU said on Monday.
The agreement will become permanent and replace a similar temporary pact in force since 2019. The previous deal facilitated mutual trade with Iran and increased it to $6.2 billion in 2022 from $2.4 billion in 2019.
The Eurasian Economic Union comprises Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Russia.
Both the region and Iran have taken on additional significance for the Kremlin after Western sanctions over Moscow's conflict in Ukraine limited Russia's foreign trade routes and forced it to look for markets outside Europe.
The new deal will eliminate customs duties on almost 90% of goods, while the agreement establishes a preferential regime for almost all trade between Russia and Iran.
Russian Economy Minister Maxim Reshetnikov said the deal would allow Russian business to save around 27 billion roubles ($294 million) each year.
($1 = 91.9825 roubles)
Reporting by Reuters, writing by Vladimir Soldatkin; editing by Guy Faulconbridge and Barbara Lewis
Iran's top negotiator and its foreign minister were in Doha for talks with Qatar's prime minister on a potential deal with the U.S. to end the three-month-old war, an official briefed on the visit said on Monday, after Washington and Tehran played down hopes for an imminent breakthrough.
Iran's foreign ministry spokesperson said on Monday that conclusions have been reached on many topics discussed in a potential 14-point memorandum of understanding, but this does not mean a deal to end the Middle East war is imminent.
In a post published Monday on Truth Social, President Donald Trump issued what amounts to a sweeping diplomatic ultimatum to the Arab and Muslim world: normalise with Israel through the Abraham Accords, or forfeit any role in the Iran agreement he is working to finalise.
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