Iran’s trade with neighbors reach $33bn in eight months: official

Iranian Customs Spokesman Rouhollah Latifi said Iraq, Turkey, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Afghanistan and Pakistan are the top five countries purchasing Iranian goods.

Except for Afghanistan, he added, Iran’s exports to the other four countries rose in recent months.

He added these five countries are followed by Russia, Oman, the Azerbaijan Republic, Turkmenistan, Kazakhstan, Qatar, Kuwait, Bahrain and Saudi Arabia as countries purchasing commodities from Iran.

In terms of value, said the official, some 40% of Iran’s exports to neighboring countries included petrochemical products, LNG and oil derivatives.

“The rest included foodstuff, agricultural produce and industrial products as well as construction and mineral materials,” he explained.

He said Iran has also imported over $32 billion worth of goods from neighboring countries over the past eight months.

Iran has been under crushing US sanctions that severely limit it trade with other countries.