Russia eager to boost economic ties with Iran

"Iran had ranked 42nd in trade with Russia in 2016 and Russia ranked 8th among Iran's trade partners and we should expand these relations," Volodin said, addressing Iran-Russia trade forum in Tehran on Monday.

He referred to the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signed by Tehran and Moscow to set up a parliamentary commission, and said, "We are after cooperation in civilian nuclear projects within the framework of this commission and establishment of agricultural and railway transportation ties."

Volodin also called for the development of trade relations between the two countries' provinces, and said, "We have worked well in the oil and gas sectors and there are lots of projects which can receive millions of dollars of investment."

Iranian Parliament Speaker Ali Larijani and Volodin in a meeting in Tehran on Monday signed an MoU to further expand the two countries' ties and cooperation.

Speaking to reporters after the meeting, Larijani underlined the importance of the MoU, and said, "We reached a framework in the field of cooperation between the two parliaments whose goal is to develop a variety of the two countries' cooperation, specially in trade and political arenas, to establish sustainable security in the region and fight against illicit drugs; therefore, we set up a joint committee between the two parliaments to materialize the goal."

Volodin, for his part, described expanded relations between Iran and Russia a result of active and good ties between the two countries' presidents, and said, "We have reached a new level of relations after inking the MoU to set up a joint committee between the Iranian and Russian parliaments and we are responsible for the projects on which we had earlier made an agreement."

"The two parliaments are responsible for paving the ground for implementation of decisions and agreements," he added.

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