Talking to IRNA, Kazem Jalali pointed to the materialization of the plan to turn Iran into a gas hub in partnership with Russia thanks to the two countries’ top global positions in terms of gas reserves and production and added, “It was suggested in the past that Tehran and Moscow cannot cooperate in the economic fields, but the comment proved wrong in recent years.”

He said, “When I was departing for Moscow to begin my diplomatic mission, some people told me that Iran and Russia could never cooperate in the economic areas as energy is the pillar of their economy and the two states are rivals in this sector. To me, this is a wrong suggestion as economic cooperation is not limited to the energy sector and the two countries can cooperate in many fields.”

The theory proved wrong in practice, underlined the ambassador, referring to the current cooperation between Iran and Russia in various sectors.

Jalali said, “If the two countries had not faced the five barriers of cognition, transit, logistics, monetary and banking, and customs problems, bilateral relations would have expanded in many areas.”

The Russians made the highest investments in Iran in 2023, the envoy quoted the Economy Ministry as saying, adding the investments have been mainly attracted by the oil industry.

Iran and Russian can also cooperate to export gas, he concluded.