Armenian-Iranian agenda is quite extensive

Relations with friendly Iran and existing and expected developments around them continue to be the focus of our attention. At the same time, it should be noted that the Armenian-Iranian agenda today is quite extensive, not only with bilateral projects or initiatives but also in multilateral formats. Of course, it primarily refers to Iran-EAEU relations, which are currently in an active stage.

The Armenian parliament has ratified the Iran-EAEU free trade agreement. The importance of this agreement to us stems from several aspects. First, the Eurasian market, which we are a part of and which is actually the main source of our foreign trade turnover in recent years, is expanding through the Iranian market. In general, it refers to tax-free or very low-tax trade for products that make up about 95 percent of the EAEU-Iran mutual trade turnover.

At the same time, we remind you once again that the Armenian parliament has ratified a large-scale and permanent agreement signed in December 2023, which replaces the 2019 interim agreement.

To understand the expectations of the agreement, let’s first look at some indicators related to the dynamics of mutual trade turnover between Iran and the EAEU.

From 2.4 billion dollars in 2019, this indicator doubled to 5.2 billion dollars in 2023. The growth is obvious. By the way, it is very important to emphasize that about 14 percent of this turnover accounts for Armenia.

Figure 2 shows the dynamics of the Armenian-Iranian trade turnover over the same period.

The figure has increased from 400 million to 700 million dollars. In absolute terms, this figure has increased, but Iran’s share in the foreign trade of Armenia has decreased since 2022. See the dynamics in Figure 3.

However, there is an objective circumstance here: as a result of the Russian-Ukrainian war, the share of other directions in Armenia’s foreign trade turnover increased.
At the same time, the indicators of the first half of the current year indicate some downward developments in the trade turnover. See Figure 4.

These are statistics from the State Revenue Committee, according to which exports decreased by 0.6% compared to the first half of 2023 and imports dropped by 0.7%.
We also consider it important to present the data of the statistical committee. In January-September 2024, exports from Armenia to Iran increased by 7.7%, and imports from Iran by 2.4%. The reason for the statistical differences is probably the change in dynamics over the past three months, since according to the same Statistical Committee, for the first half of the year, the indicators were decreasing, although they differ from those of the State Revenue Committee.
In any case, the growth of the Armenian-Iranian trade meets everyone’s interests; therefore, the agreement with the EAEU can really be a serious stimulus. In this regard, it is important to mention the Armenian-Iranian agreement to stop levying road taxes from trucks entering each other’s territory.

To sum up, as we noted at the beginning, the Armenian-Iranian economic agenda is quite extensive, both with already implemented projects and with expected ones. Let’s highlight the most important projects. Iranian trade center opened in Yerevan and expected Armenian center in Iran that will give a new impetus to the trade turnover. The access of Armenia to the Iranian port of Chabahar, a project to connect Armenia to the transit route connecting the Persian Gulf with the Black Sea, cooperation in the road construction of strategic importance, the recent statement by the Iranian Ambassador that Iran intends to cooperate with Armenia on $3 billion projects, and, of course, work on the construction of the third power transmission line between Armenia and Iran, the deadline of which has been postponed several times.