TEHRAN – The Eurasian Economic Commission is preparing to approve a joint roadmap with Iran to implement their newly finalized free trade agreement. The roadmap will guide cooperation from 2025 through 2028 and is expected to be ratified during the next joint committee meeting in September 2025.

Bakytzhan Sagintaev, Chairman of the Eurasian Economic Commission's Executive Board, said the roadmap is crucial for ensuring coordinated progress across all agreed areas of interaction. “The full implementation of the free trade agreement with Iran has elevated our economic and trade relations to a new level,” he stated during a meeting with Iran’s Ambassador to Russia, Kazem Jalali.

According to Sagintayev, bilateral trade between Iran and member states of the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU) surged by 14.6 percent in 2024 to reach $5.9 billion. He said the agreement has already created strong momentum for increased economic engagement, and the roadmap will further structure this cooperation.

Ambassador Jalali welcomed the agreement’s implementation and Iran’s new observer status in the EAEU, saying both reflect a strong mutual will to expand cooperation across sectors. He also thanked the EAEU’s leadership for supporting Iran’s full integration into the bloc’s economic processes.

In a political aside, Jalali addressed Israel’s recent attacks on Iran, stating they were aimed at destabilizing the Islamic Republic but had instead led to an unprecedented sense of national unity. “Despite the heavy toll, including the deaths of over 150 women and 200 children, the Iranian people have come out of the 12-day conflict more united than ever,” he said.

Sagintayev expressed confidence in Iran’s continued progress both domestically and internationally. “The implementation of the free trade agreement paints a bright picture for future trade growth,” he said, adding that the EAEU expects trade volume with Iran to double in the near term.

The meeting also marked the formal introduction of Mohammad Javad Izadi and Mohsen Rahimi as Iran’s official representatives to the EAEU.

Iran’s embassy in Moscow predicted that trade with the EAEU could reach $12 billion in the short term.

The two sides also discussed cooperation in transport and logistics infrastructure, and deepening ties in agriculture, industry, oil refining, and petrochemicals. Officials emphasized the importance of joint supply chain development along routes connecting Iran to Eurasian markets.

The EAEU comprises Russia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, and Armenia. Iran, along with Uzbekistan, Moldova, and Cuba, holds observer status.

Iran and the EAEU signed their free trade agreement in January 2024 in St. Petersburg, eliminating tariffs on roughly 87 percent of traded goods. The deal was ratified by all participating parliaments and came into force on May 15, 2025.

Andrey Slepnev, EAEU Trade Minister, previously announced the roadmap’s draft during a meeting with Iranian business leaders in June 2025, calling for entrepreneurs from both sides to see one another not as competitors but as partners in a common market of 250 million people.

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Photo: Iran’s Ambassador to Russia Kazem Jalali (L) and Bakytzhan Sagintaev, Chairman of the Eurasian Economic Commission's Executive Board