President Rouhani Due in Armenia to Attend Eurasia Summit

Hassan Rouhani is scheduled to deliver a speech at the event, which will also be attended by his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin.

According to Rouhani’s deputy chief of staff for communications and information, Parviz Esmaeili, the president will address the EAEU high-profile summit on Tuesday.

“In addition to delivering a speech at the summit and discussing Iran’s extensive potential and capabilities for trade cooperation with the EAEU, the president will hold bilateral meetings with Armenian prime minister and other senior officials,” said Esmaeil.

The most important issues regarding Tehran-Yerevan relations, as well as the latest status of the implementation of joint agreements and projects, will be discussed during the meetings, he noted.

On the sidelines of the summit, President Rouhani will also hold separate meetings with a number of participating leaders to exchange views on topics of mutual interest, as well as regional and international developments.

A high-ranking politico-economic delegation will be accompanying Rouhani on this visit, said Esmaeili, adding that the president will return to Tehran on Tuesday night.

Rouhani’s participation at the EAEU summit was confirmed by Armenian Foreign Minister Zohrab Mnatsakanyan on Sept. 7, who said in an interview that “we have a wide-scale agenda with Iran, and we are looking for frameworks and effective ways for cooperation in the fields of regional security, development of infrastructure, and energy diversity to reach a positive result that would benefit all of our countries.”

“Armenia’s membership at the EAEU will provide the condition for us to expand cooperation with Iran, as well as Singapore and Egypt,” he had noted.

The EAEU meeting of leaders in Yerevan is a major regional event which is said to help Tehran increase its non-oil exports amid US sanctions.

The invitation came more than a month after Iran ratified a parliamentary bill to launch a free trade zone with EAEU members, namely Russia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Armenia and Kyrgyzstan.

The agreement is expected to hugely boost Iran’s trade transactions with countries to the north of a region in northern Asia and Eastern Europe called Eurasia.