Azernews.Az

By Fatma Babayeva

Russia and Iran could reach an official agreement on the transition to the mutual payment in local currencies.

The statement was made by Hossein Yaghoubi Miab, General Director of International Cooperation Department of Iran’s Central Bank on the sidelines of the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum (SPIEF) on June 16, reported Ria Novosti.

Shifting trading to local currencies aims at reducing the dependence of both countries on the U.S. dollar.

Iranian Central Bank has already proposed the relevant mechanism to the Russian Central Bank regarding how to make the best use of the national currencies in mutual payments.

Now, Russian side is studying the proposal and will provide their assessment on it. Once, the Russian side agrees, the central banks of the two countries will conclude an agreement, he said by emphasizing that it is expected to take place soon.

Miab further said that Moscow is looking forward for signing this deal, as soon as they finalize studying the proposal submitted by Iran.

In its turn, Iran also aspires to this agreement, Miab said by stressing that both countries will benefit from this deal as it means lower currency risks.

Economic and political relations between Russia and Iran date back centuries. Their ties cover fields such as trade, energy sector, military, agriculture, telecommunications, transportation, nuclear and many others.

Currently, the two countries are keen to expand cooperation in various fields including nanotechnologies, power plants and other new investment projects.

Russia exported $420 million worth of goods to Tehran during the first two months of current Iranian fiscal year (March 20-May 20). Iran's imports from Russia recorded a huge rise by 494 percent year on year.

Tehran and Moscow has identical positions on some regional issues including the ongoing crisis in Syria.

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Fatma Babayeva is AzerNews’ staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @Fatma_Babayeva

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