Iran and Russia announced joint plans "to neutralize sanctions", Iranian Petroleum Minister Jawad Owji was quoted as saying by the Iranian Oil Company (NIOC) on Wednesday.
In a joint news conference with Deputy Prime Minister of Russia, Alexander Novak, ahead of the 16th Joint Economic Commission of Iran and Russia, Owji said, "there is now a strong will in the public and private sectors of both countries to neutralize the sanctions."
Owji said that with the plentiful hydrocarbon resources of both countries, they can utilize their influence in the global market, and align their decision in coalition with the decisions of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and its allies known as OPEC+.
Having met regularly in the past year, the Iranian petroleum minister said that relations between the two countries have never been so close, and urged that âthis golden opportunity should be used to the fullest."
Iran already has more than $4 billion in contracts with Russian majors for the development of oil and gas fields, Owji said.
"In line with these contracts, there are more than $40 billion of memorandum of understanding with major Russian companies in various fields such as the construction of gas export pipelines to neighboring countries, swaps of oil, gas, oil products and export of petrochemicals. In this regard, petrochemical products and catalysts were exported to Russia last month."
Following its invasion of Ukrainian cities, Russia has been subject to many western sanctions from the US and the EU. Sanctions are aimed against Russia's financial institutions, business sector, and oil and gas industry. Iranâs oil and financial sectors have also struggled under the years-long US sanctions due to its nuclear activities.
Under a nuclear deal known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), signed in 2015 by Iran, the US, China, Russia, France, the UK, Germany and the EU, Tehran committed to limit its nuclear activity to civilian purposes and in return, world powers agreed to drop their economic sanctions against Iran.
Iran stopped observing the nuclear deal when former US President Donald Trump unilaterally withdrew the US from it in 2018 and re-imposed sanctions on Iran.
Since the election of Ebrahim Raisi as president last year, efforts have been made to resurrect the accord and lift restrictions on Iranian oil exports; however, disagreements between the key stakeholders have prevented the signature of the agreement.
By Sibel Morrow
Anadolu Agency