Iran-EAEU Free Trade Zone Ratified

Russian President Vladimir Putin today signed law ratifying a free trade zone protocol between Iran and the Eurasian Economic Union.

• 80% of goods between Iran and Eurasia will now be subject to 0 customs duties. .
• Esfandyar Batmanghelidj of the Bourse & Bazaar thinktank has downplayed the significance of the agreement: "Iran can’t sell oil to Russia, it is likely to run large trade deficits. I don’t see non-oil exports to Russia growing enough to change that."
• Batmanghelidj continues: "Russia + Iran are unlikely to forge a deep partnership. In terms of trade, there are several challenges: 1. They make the same stuff 2. Consumers in both markets are getting poorer 3. Iran exposes Russian firms to secondary sanctions Iran trades *5x* more with Iraq than Russia."
• The trade agreement appears to be the next stage in a deepening partnership between Iran and Russia which the US has called extremely concerning.
• Today, however, Iranian FM Hossein Amirabdollahian told his Ukrainian counterpart Dmitro Kuleba that US reports that Tehran had agreed to sell drones to Moscow were untrue.
• Kuleba said Amirabdollahian assured him "Russia won’t be able to sell stolen Ukrainian grain to Iran."