Mokhber made the comment on Wednesday evening in Tehran at a meeting with Russia’s Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak, who is also the head of Russia-Iran Joint Economic Committee.
The Iranian official said that the two sides should set goals for developing their ties and called on the Joint Economic Committee to work in this regard.
Mokhber noted that the level of Tehran-Moscow trade ties is low compared with their political relations.
He added that Iran has serious determination to expand trade ties with Russia, and if Moscow is determined too, a big growth would take place in bilateral trade relations.
The Iranian official said that transportation and transit as well as oil and gas are among the fields the two sides are currently cooperating on. But, he added, banking issues are an obstacle to boost bilateral cooperation.
Mokhber called for efforts to remove that obstacle and said the two countries can use their national currencies in their trade exchanges.
Novak, on his part, called Iran an old friend and a trusted partner for Russia, saying that his country has always attached paramount importance to developing relations with Tehran.
He said that the two countries share common views on many issues, and that, Moscow has serious determination to expand relations with Tehran.
The Russia official referred to the negotiations he held with Iranian officials, calling the talks positive and constructive aimed at assessing grounds of cooperation between the two sides.
Novak also said that Russia is ready to use Iranian and Russian national currencies in trade exchanges.
He noted that the completion of the North–South Transport Corridor helps boost trade and economic relations between Tehran and Moscow, adding that Iran can turn into a key transport hub for Russia and the region.
North–South Transport Corridor is a sea, rail, and road route expected to facilitate and boost exchange of goods between Iran, India, Russia, Europe, and the Central Asian states.
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