Iran’s Minister of Communications and Information Technology Mahmoud Vaezi recently visited Moscow to discuss cooperation in several sectors, most notably in science and technology.
Iran and Russia have increased their cooperation since sanctions were removed against Iran earlier in January, with Russian aerospace industry at the top of the list of Iran’s future partner, though Internet and telecoms were not far behind.
Vaezi met with Russia’s Energy Minister Alexander Novak who said the two sides discussed several areas, including setting up a joint free trade zone and implementing projects related to science and satellites, on July 30.
“There have been some agreements in the field of aerospace and the two sides are studying the possibility of making a satellite for Iran by Russia,” IRNA quoted Novak as saying.
Prior to the meeting with Novak, the Iranian minister met with Russian Minister of Communications and Mass Media Nikolai Nikiforov who added that the country’s space agency Roscosmos and the Iranian Space Organization will boost cooperation in the area of aerospace technology.
“Iran is very interested in the experience of the Russian space program, including in the sphere of communications,” Nikiforov said.
“Indeed, my colleague (Vaezi) has repeatedly talked about the interest in the use of Russian satellite technology. This is being discussed with the Roscosmos Corporation.”
Russian Searches?
After meeting Nikiforov, Vaezi said he also discussed the possible entry of Yandex, Russia’s biggest Internet search engine, to the Iranian market.
“Four different committees will be set up after the meeting I had and those which my deputies and the delegation have had. They will organize everything and will cover many issues, including Yandex,” Press TV reported Vaezi saying.
The Russian search engine was reportedly blocked in Iran in March 2016, as it had little or no traction in the domestic market.
Vaezi hoped that Yandex will become operational in the country by the yearend.
However, last October, a representative from the company said it had no plans to open up a local office in Iran.
“Currently, we have no plans to open new offices,” Azerbaijan’s news provider, Trend, quoted Yandex Press Office as saying on Monday.
Financial Tribune contacted the press officer of the group at the time who also confirmed the Iranian market was not on their agenda.
However, the two sides discussed cooperation in several other technical fields, including technological education such as 3D technologies, according to a report from Moscow.
Other reported areas of joint cooperation include network security, digital postal services and research and development.
Tehran and Moscow did not confirm reports of discussing development of cooperation in science parks any time soon.
