The successful cooperation between Russia and Iran in the fight against terrorism in Syria gives grounds to hope for further development of cooperation between the two countries on the regional agenda. Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, chairman of Iran's Mejlis (unicameral parliament), said this in a speech at the Russian Foreign Ministry's Diplomatic Academy.
"We believe that there are opportunities for cooperation with Russia, these opportunities are many. We need to continue our cooperation on the regional agenda, which we started very well and successfully in Syria. It led to the defeat of terrorists. We hope it will develop further. And we will find new directions for this cooperation," he said.
Ghalibaf expressed confidence that strategic cooperation between Russia and Iran could cover even more areas, including the economy, defense, security and the regional agenda. "Iran believes that Tehran and Moscow can look at a twenty- and fifty-year perspective. Let's reflect on this together," the parliamentarian said.
According to him, the promotion of cooperation within the framework of the Eurasian Economic Union can contribute to strengthening economic ties between the two countries.
The Speaker of the Iranian Parliament also stressed that Russia is an influential partner of Iran in implementing the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) on Iran's nuclear program. He assured that the election of a new US president will not affect relations between Moscow and Tehran, they should only strengthen in the future.
Creating a financial and trade hub
Russia and Iran could create a financial and trade hub to develop economic ties and facilitate interaction between entrepreneurs of the two countries, Ghalibaf said.
"Another possibility [for the development of economic cooperation between Moscow and Tehran] is to create a financial and trade hub between Iran and Russia, which would help develop trade and economic ties between our countries, facilitate financial settlement as well as barter operations so that our businessmen could cooperate more easily," he said.
Turnover figures
Iran hopes to double its trade figures with Russia, Ghalibaf said.
"Even in recent years, when we joined the EAEU, you can clearly see that the trade turnover compared to what it was - even taking into account the coronavirus and sanctions - its growth was more than 50%," he said. - "We hope that in the future we will see a doubling of growth".
The Iranian parliamentary speaker pointed to two key obstacles to achieving higher rates of bilateral economic cooperation. "These are the pandemic as well as unilateral pressure from the United States. I am referring to the sanctions they are imposing both against us and against Russia, as well as against China," Ghalibaf explained.
The chairman of the Majlis noted that in this area "the prospect can be very good."
GSV "Russia - Islamic World"
Photo: Federation Council
Based on materials from TASS