New Trade Strategy: Spotlight on '15+2'

Amid harsh economic sanctions against Iran, the Islamic Republic's new trade strategy is to focus on exports to 15 neighboring countries in addition to China and India, which Caretaker of Trade Promotion Organization of Iran Mohammad Reza Modoudi refers to as "15+2".
“Since our country is under sanctions and transporting goods with ships is mired in difficulties, logic dictates that we seriously pursue exporting to neighboring countries and plan for it. This [strategy] will offset the negative effects of sanctions,” the official was quoted as saying by Iran newspaper, stressing that exports to India and China should be taken more seriously.
Iran has land or sea borders with 15 countries, namely the UAE, Iraq, Turkey, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Russia, Oman, Azerbaijan, Turkmenistan, Kuwait, Qatar, Kazakhstan, Armenia, Bahrain and Saudi Arabia.
Modoudi noted that Iran plans to boost exports to Bahrain and Saudi Arabia—the two countries whose commercial exchanges with Iran have been next to zero in recent years.