The plan to launch a free trade zone on the Armenian-Iranian border with Iran border will be a mutually advantageous project potentially increasing trade turnover, an expert in Iranian studies said today, sharing his positive expectations of the idea.

Speaking at a news conference, Armen Israelyan also highlighted the economic benefits of the Meghri-Norduz joint customs checkpoint plan which he said is aimed at boosting longer-term partnerships, particularly for the operation of a road corridor connecting the Persian Gulf with the Black Sea. He added that they intend to attract also investors through the project.

“The bill has been several times debated in the Iranian parliament, and was approved just a few days ago. The agreement applies to both transit transportation of flight and the increase in bilateral trade turnover, as well as the transit delivery of energy resources,” Israelyan said.  

To speed up the customs procedures, the expert proposed creating a joint working group to deal with the existing problems.

He added that the two countries have also expressed committment to facilitate information exchange in dealing with smuggling cases.