ST. PETERSBURG, Dec. 26 (Xinhua) -- Leaders of the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU) countries have decided to grant Iran observer status at the bloc, according to a document published on the EAEU website on Thursday.
The leaders also approved the entry into force of the free trade agreement between EAEU and Iran, which was signed last December.
The documents were approved following a meeting of the Supreme Eurasian Economic Council in Russia's Leningrad Oblast on Thursday. Bakytzhan Sagintayev, Chairman of the Board of the Eurasian Economic Commission, noted after the meeting that Iran is one of the important partners of EAEU.
Trade turnover between the two parties nearly doubled from 2018 to 2023, and in the first 10 months of 2024, it rose by 12.8 percent, the official said, adding that the free trade agreement will enable both sides to increase trade volume and overall economic cooperation more effectively.
A total of 17 documents were approved at the meeting. In addition to agreements with Iran, they include a deal on a unified customs transit system, a directive on the operation of a single services market within the EAEU, and others. Armenia will hand over the EAEU chairmanship to Belarus starting in 2025. ■