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
Israel and Lebanon agreed to a 45-day extension of a ceasefire that has tamped down the conflict between Israel and Iran-backed Hezbollah in southern Lebanon, as two days of talks facilitated by Washington concluded on Friday with an agreement to hold further meetings in the coming weeks.
U.S. President Donald Trump said his patience with Iran was running out and that Chinese President Xi Jinping had agreed that Tehran must reopen the Strait of Hormuz, but China gave no indication it would weigh in.
The United Arab Emirates is moving decisively to reduce its vulnerability to Iran's control of the Strait of Hormuz, with Abu Dhabi ordering the acceleration of a new pipeline project that would allow hydrocarbon exports to bypass the strategic - and currently disrupted - waterway.
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