President Vladimir Putin of Russia has called for Iran's closer interaction with the Eurasian Economic Union, which could benefit the region.
"Russia wants Iran to have vast trade-economic partnership in the Eurasia region in the near future," Putin said in a meeting Thursday with Russian ambassadors and heads of diplomatic missions abroad, Fars News Agency reported.
Broad Eurasian participation is forthcoming, he said, adding, "We hope that in addition to the present Eurasia member states, China, India, Pakistan and Iran as well as the former Soviet Union republics will join in the near future."
The Russian leader said consultations for creating a Eurasia free trade zone with over 40 member states and international organizations are underway.
"The union is interested in cooperation with countries and regional organizations on the basis of principles of freedom and transparency as well as abiding by international trade rules and regulations," Putin told his diplomatic corps.
The Eurasian Economic Union is an economic union of states located primarily in northern Eurasia.
A treaty for the establishment of the EEU was signed in May 2014 by the leaders of Belarus, Kazakhstan and Russia, and came into force on January 1, 2015.
The union has an integrated single market of 183 million people and a gross domestic product of over $4 trillion.
EEU calls for the free movement of goods, capital, services and people and provides for common transport, agriculture and energy policies, with provisions for a single currency and greater integration in the future.
