Iran, Turkey sign $30 billion trade deal

PanARMENIAN.Net - Iran and Turkey signed a trade pact on February 6, one which Tehran said could be worth $30 billion over five years and signaled even stronger ties between the two nations.

Both nation's leaders touted the agreement as something that could provide huge mutual economic benefit, according to their state media.

"Iran and Turkey are two countries that complete each other," Iranian Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi said, according to Turkey's official Anadolu news.

The agreement capped the nations' 22nd annual joint economic meeting, evidence that Tehran and Ankara have a long working relationship. Still, it comes amid Iran's nuclear tensions with the United States - a staunch ally of Turkey.

In an account from Iran's official IRNA news agency, Salehi said the agreement and other recent moves indicate that Turkey is committed to bolstering its ties with Middle Eastern nations. "Ankara is strengthening its relations with its neighboring countries, particularly the Islamic republic of Iran," Salehi said.

Turkish State Minister Cevdet Yilmaz noted that trade between his nation and Iran has risen from $1 billion to $10.7 billion in the past decade. Still, he said that it could go even further.

Also, Turkish Premier Recep Tayyip Erdogan met with the head of Syria, another U.S. nemesis.

In an official statement published on Syria's state-run Sana news agency, President Bashar al-Assad said that he and his Turkish counterpart "stressed the importance of continuing work and coordination by the two countries through high-level transparent dialogue", CNN reported.