2024-03-04 13:34:08
Russia has become the largest investor in Iran, investing $2.76 billion in the current financial year, Iran’s Minister of Economy and Finance Seyed Ehsan Khandouzi said in an interview with the Financial Times.
“We consider our relations with Russia strategic, we cooperate in various fields, especially economic ones. China and Russia are Iran’s main economic partners. Iran plans to expand relations with them through strategic agreements,” the minister said.
According to the data of the Ministry of Economy and Finance of Iran, the volume of foreign direct investments in the country this fiscal year was 4.2 billion dollars, two-thirds of the investments were made by Russia in the fields of mining, industry and transport.
It should be noted that in January the presidents of the Central Banks of Russia and Iran signed a cooperation agreement that simplifies financial and banking operations. As Seyed Ehsan Khanduzi reported, Tehran held talks on this issue not only with Moscow, but also with Beijing and Ankara. “However, from a technical point of view, the Iranian-Russian financial infrastructure is the most developed,” said the official.
To remind, in 2022, Russian Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak also announced the intention to connect the Russian “Mir” and Iranian “Shetab” payment systems, as well as to expand cooperation between Russia and Iran in the financial sector.
Ali Ashar Shalbafian, Deputy Minister of Tourism and Cultural Heritage of Iran, announced recently that the “Mir” payment system will soon be launched in Iran.