Iran, Russia resolved to up ties in post-JCPOA era: Minister

Iran and Russia are resolute in improving bilateral relations following the implementation of last July’s nuclear agreement between Tehran and the P5+1 group of countries, Iranian Minister of Communications and Information Technology Mahmoud Vaezi says.

Vaezi was addressing a Friday meeting in Moscow between delegations of the Iran-Russia joint economic cooperation commission, co-chaired by him and Russian Energy Minister Alexander Novak.

“Iran is ready to expand comprehensive cooperation with Russia without any limitation,” the Iranian chairman of the commission said.

On January 16, Iran and the five permanent members of the UN Security Council -- the United States, Britain, France, China and Russia -- plus Germany started implementing the nuclear agreement, known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), which they reached on July 14, 2015.

The JCPOA envisages Tehran scaling back its nuclear program in return for the lifting of all nuclear-related sanctions on the Islamic Republic.

Vaezi said the agreements made in the 12th session of the joint economic commission, which was held in Moscow in November 2015, have established a roadmap for bilateral cooperation.

The Iranian minister also added that Tehran and Moscow have signed very important documents for cooperation over the past two years and set up working groups to implement them.

Ample opportunities for cooperation: Novak

Novak (seen below), for his part, pointed to a scheduled meeting between Iranian President Hassan Rouhani and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin, and said Tehran and Moscow have used ample opportunities to strengthen cooperation while they have still many chances for bolstering interaction in different sectors.

Iran’s President Rouhani will participate in a trilateral summit attended by Putin and their Azeri counterpart, Ilham Aliyev, in Azerbaijan’s capital of Baku in August.

During the meeting, which is held upon an offer by Aliyev, the three presidents will exchange views about ways to bolster relations and discuss the latest regional developments.

The Russian minister added that trade volume between the two countries during the first five months of 2016 showed a 70-percent rise in comparison with the same period last year, and noted that both sides have capabilities to still increase the figure.

He said Iran and the Eurasian Economic Union (EEU) have drawn up a free trade agreement and called on the two sides to make more efforts to finalize and implement the agreement.

The Russian official also highlighted the significance of the lifting of sanctions against Iran, and expressed Russia’s readiness to cooperate with Tehran to increase banking transactions.

Novak added that Iranian and Russian delegations signed a memorandum of understanding in Moscow on Thursday to boost space cooperation.

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