Iran, Russia Agree on Multi-Billion Dollar Loan: Report
TEHRAN (Tasnim) – Tehran and Moscow have nailed down an agreement that would give Iran a loan of $7-8 billion under joint projects with the Russian companies, Russian sources reported.
Russian sources quoted Iran’s Deputy Industry Minister Mojtaba Khosrotaj as saying on Thursday that the main conditions on allocation of the loan have been agreed.
“Yes, we have reached such a high-level agreement. Now it’s the work of the banks to agree on the technical details of work in this scheme,” Khosrotaj told RIA Novosti in an interview.
The Iranian official also explained that the “loan of $7-8 billion would be applied to purveyors from Russia and buyers in Iran for the realization of projects.”
The efforts to cement closer economic ties between Iran and Russia come against the backdrop of stronger cooperation between the two allies on the regional issues.
Tehran and Moscow have adopted the same policies towards Syria in the face of the West.
They both have also fallen victim to unilateral Western sanctions, particularly imposed by the US.
In recent years, the US and others have slapped cruel sanctions on Iran under the pretext that the country's peaceful nuclear program had a covert drive towards acquiring a nuclear weapons capability.
However, a July nuclear deal between Tehran and the Group 5+1 (Russia, China, the US, Britain, France and Germany) is going to terminate all nuclear-related sanctions against Iran after taking effect.
Meanwhile, Russian officials have signaled willingness to benefit from Tehran’s experience in dealing with the sanctions.
Moscow’s call for using Iran’s experience in countering sanctions follows Washington’s imposition of tough sanctions on Moscow under the pretext that Russia is interfering in Ukraine’s internal affairs.
The US has imposed a series of sanctions on allies of Russian President Vladimir Putin, prompting Moscow to denounce "Cold War" tactics amid escalating violence in eastern Ukraine.