Russia-Iran trade may increase to $3 bln in few years - Russian lawmaker

MOSCOW, November 17. /TASS/. Trade between Russia and Iran may soon increased from the current 1.7 billion U.S. dollars to three billion U.S. dollars, Alexei Pushkov, the chairman of the international committee of the Russian State Duma lower parliament house, said on Monday, commenting on the results of Duma speaker Sergei Natyshkin’s visit to Teheran. Pushkov said that while in Iran the Russian delegation focused on economic cooperation issues. “Trade between Russia and Iran is not as big as might be. Now it is about 1.7 billion U.S. dollars. Some experts say it can be increased to three billiob U.S. dollars in the next few years,” he said. “Thus, the sides are currently discussing a deal ‘oil in exchange for good’ that is implemented not as quickly as the sides would like it to, but nonetheless it is being realized,” Pushkov said, noting that there were some objective obstacles. “I think that since this deal is on the agenda of the two countries’ governments, solutions to problems hindering its finalization would finally be reached,” he noted. While on a working visit to Teheran, Naryshkin met with his counterpart, Iran’s Majilis /parliament/ Speaker Ali Larijani and former President of Iran Ali Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, who is now heading the council that looks at the expediency of decision-making. Read more