Russian Energy Minister Due in Tehran for Trade Talks


TEHRAN (Tasnim) – Russian Energy Minister Alexander Novak is scheduled to visit Tehran on Wednesday to confer with senior Iranian officials on the expansion of trade ties between the two countries.

Novak will arrive in Tehran tomorrow morning and is planned to hold talks with Iranian Oil Minister Bijan Namdar Zanganeh during his two-day visit as the two countries aim to increase bilateral trade fivefold from the current $2 billion.

The Russian energy minister is also scheduled to sit down with Iran's Minister of Communications and Information Technology Mahmoud Vaezi, who also heads Iran-Russia Joint Economic Commission.

Novak and Vaezi will exchange views on energy resources, cooperation in Hydrocarbon fields, as well as raising the current level of Tehran-Moscow trade relations.

Oil companies are eyeing projects in Iran, which has one of the world’s largest oil reserves, after Iran and the Group 5+1 (Russia, China, the US, Britain, France and Germany) on July 14 reached a nuclear deal dubbed the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) in the Austrian city of Vienna.

On Sunday, Iran’s Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif and the EU Foreign Policy Chief Federica Mogherini in a joint statement voiced their commitment to the implementation of the JCPOA.