Tehran, Moscow discuss expansion of ties

During his three-day stay in St. Petersburg, Alireza Peymanpak met with Russian Deputy Prime Minister Alexei Overchuk, the country’s Minister of Construction and Housing Irek Faizullin, Trade Minister of the Eurasian Economic Commission (EEC) Andrey Slepnev as well as Maxim Sokolov, former transport minister and head of the country’s major automobile company Avtovaz, IRNA reported on Saturday.

In the meeting with Overchuk, the Russian official expressed his country’s readiness for completing the Rasht-Astara railway in Iran in order to develop the International North-South Transit Corridor.

“Russia is ready to build the 162-kilometer-long Rasht-Astara railway for Iran,” he said.

Peymanpak, for his part, emphasized Russia's role in modernizing Iran's rail transport and shipping fleet in the Caspian Sea, as well as renovating the country’s road fleet.

He suggested that Iran should join the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU) as an observer member.

Monetary issues, formation of a joint production working group, supply of industrial parts to Russian factories by Iranian manufacturers, and creation of joint free zones in the north and south of Iran were also among the subjects discussed in the meeting.

The TPO head also met with Faizullin and discussed potential areas for cooperation between the two countries.

In the meeting, Faizullin expressed Russia’s willingness for importing construction materials from Iran.

He also noted that his country is also considering the imports of power plant turbines from the Islamic Republic.

Attending an Iran-Russia business forum in St. Petersburg, Peymanpak stressed Iran’s readiness for signing a free trade agreement with the EAEU by the end of the current year.

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IRNA