During a meeting with Iran’s Energy Minister, Reza Ardakanian, Russia’s Energy Minister Alexander Novak announced that a trade deal between Iran and the Eurasian Economic Union will take effect on October 26.
The Mehr news agency reported that Iran became a member of the free-trade union as a means of boosting its economy amid crippling US sanctions by increasing the share of non-oil exports in revenue streams. Russia, the leader of the EAEU, spearheaded the negotiations and will now provide financial help to the newest member of the union in the form of a US$1-billion loan for the construction of a power plant.
But financial help could just be the beginning. With Iran’s addition to the EAEU, which also includes Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Belarus, and Armenia, the sanction-bound country will receive access to a free-trade zone with Iran’s ambassador to Russia estimating bilateral trade could spike to US$10 billion within two to three years.
