Iranian President set to address EAEU summit in Yerevan

PanARMENIAN.Net - Iranian President Hassan Rouhani, heading a high-ranking political and economic delegation, will depart for Armenia on Monday, September 30 evening to take part at a high-profile summit of the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU), Mehr News Agency reports.

According to Rouhani’s deputy chief of staff for communications and information, Parviz Esmaili, the president will address the EAEU high-profile summit on Tuesday.

“In addition to delivering a speech at the summit and discussing Iran’s extensive capacities and capabilities for trade cooperation with the EAEU, the president will hold bilateral meetings with Armenian prime minister and other senior officials,” Esmaili added.

The most important issues regarding Tehran-Yerevan relations, as well as the latest status on the implementation of joint agreements and projects will be discussed during the meetings, he noted.

On the sidelines of the summit, President Rouhani will also hold separate meetings with a number of participating leaders to confer on topics of mutual interest, as well as regional and international developments.

A high-ranking delegation will be accompanying Rouhani on this visit, said Esmaili, adding that the president will return to Tehran on Tuesday night.

Rouhani’s participation at the EAEU summit was confirmed by Armenian Foreign Minister Zohrab Mnatsakanyan on Sept. 7, who said in an interview that “we have a wide-scale agenda with Iran, and we are looking for frameworks and effective ways for cooperation in the fields of regional security, development of infrastructures, and energy diversity to reach a positive result that would benefit all of our countries.”

“Armenia’s membership to the EAEU will provide the condition for us to expand cooperation with Iran, as well as Singapore and Egypt,” he had noted.

The EAEU meeting of leaders in Yerevan is a major regional organization which is said to help Tehran increase its non-oil export revenues amid US sanctions.

The invitation came more than a month after Iran ratified a parliamentary bill to launch a free trade zone with EAEU members, namely Armenia, Russia, Belarus, Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan.

The agreement is expected to hugely boost Iran’s trade capacity with countries to the north of a region in northern Asia and Eastern Europe called Eurasia.