President Rouhani Stresses Need to Increase Iran-Turkey Trade Up to $30bln

Iranian President Hassan Rouhani underlined that he plans to meet Turkish officials to discuss ways to boost the two countries' trade ties up to $30bln.

Matters of mutual interest as well as regional and international developments would be on the agenda of talks between the two sides during the visit, Rouhani said in Tehran on Wednesday before leaving for Ankara for an official two-day visit at the invitation of his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

Rouhani also said promotion of economic relations, including in the banking system, energy sector, oil and gas and transit, would be discussed and certain agreements would be signed during his visit.

He said efforts to increase bilateral annual trade from $10bln to $30bln would be among his top agenda of discussion.

Iran’s president, who is in Ankara to co-chair the 5th Turkey-Iran High Level Cooperation Council meeting, also hailed Turkey’s “firm” stance on unilateral US sanctions against the Islamic Republic.

He said that Turkey, as friendly key regional player, was of high significance to Iran.

Back on May 8, US President Donald Trump announced that he would abandon the Iran nuclear deal, reached between Tehran and six world powers – the US, the UK, France, Russia, China and Germany in 2015. He also announced that he would reinstate the sanctions against Iran that were lifted as part of the agreement, officially known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA).

Under the JCPOA, Iran agreed to limit parts of its peaceful nuclear program in exchange for the removal of all nuclear-related sanctions.

In August, Trump ordered all nuclear-related sanctions that were removed under the deal to be reinstated immediately.

Turkish officials, including President Erdogan, have criticized the US for re-imposing its unilateral sanctions against Iran, stressing Ankara’s determination to keep economic ties with Tehran.

source: FARS News Agency

Hassan Rouhani Turkey JCPOA