The report put the worth of the two countries’ bilateral trade at $986 million in the first three months of this year.

Of the mentioned figure about $505 million was related to Iran’s exports to Turkey and about $481 million was related to Iran’s imports from this country. Meanwhile, in the first quarter of 2020, Iran’s main trade with Turkey was related to Iran’s imports from this country, while during the first quarter of 2021, Iran’s trade balance with Turkey was positive.

During the first quarter of 2021, Iran’s imports from Turkey increased by about 29 percent compared to the same period last year, and during the same period, Iran’s exports to this country increased by 87 percent, which caused Iran’s trade balance with Turkey from minus $104 million in the first quarter of 2020 reach a positive $24.4 million in the first quarter of 2021.

As previously reported by the head of Iran-Turkey Joint Chamber of Commerce, Iran has exported $2 billion of commodities to Turkey in 2020.

Putting Iran’s imports from Turkey at $2.254 billion in 2020, Mehrdad Sa’adat said, “Iran-Turkey trade declined highly in 2020, while we had experienced an annual bilateral trade of $15 billion, and meanwhile our target is to reach $30 billion”.

Different factors led to decline in trade between the two neighbors in the previous year, among them the U.S. sanctions and the coronavirus pandemic were the most outstanding ones, he noted.

Saying that Iran-Turkey Joint Chamber of Commerce is looking for a roadmap to improve trade transactions between the two sides, Sa’adat said, “In this regard, last year, the issue of trade ethics between the two countries was addressed and some indicators were selected in this field, because if we want to improve the volume of trade and achieve the goals, we must take action to solve the root problems.”

“Preliminary studies have shown that many problems arise from business ethics that need to be addressed in order to alleviate the problems that traders are struggling with, and this issue was addressed last year, and we hope for a favorable outcome”, he added.

During the 27th meeting of Iran-Turkey Joint Economic Committee, which was held in Ankara in mid-September last year, the two sides investigated different ways of reaching the targeted $30-billion bilateral trade and reiterated that reaching this figure is possible despite the pressures of the U.S. sanctions.

During the meeting, the Iranian president’s chief of staff, Mahmoud Vaezi, who is the Iranian chairman of the committee, mentioned expediting the process of implementing bilateral agreements on trade and economic issues as the most prioritized objective of the joint committee and said Iran has no limitation for expanding and deepening cooperation with Turkey.

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IRICA spokesman Rouhollah Latifi said on Tuesday that the value of trade between Iran and Turkey had amounted to $6.856 billion over the past calendar year, down by nearly 32 percent compared to the year to March 2020.

Latifi said Iran’s exports to Turkey dropped significantly over the yearly period to stand at $2.512 billion in value terms, a decline of nearly 51 percent year on year.

Imports, however, decreased by 13.5 percent compared to the year to March 2020 to reach $4.344 billion, he said.

Balance of trade with Turkey had been slightly positive at just $3 million in Iran’s favor in the year to March 2020, said the IRICA spokesman.

Iran reports lower exports to Turkey after a year of strict restrictions at borders because of the spread of the coronavirus pandemic.

The drop is also due to the fact that Turkish businesses are facing increased difficulties in trading with Iranian counterparts because of banking restrictions imposed by the United States.

Iran’s energy exports to Turkey have specifically suffered because of U.S. bans although Ankara is still a main customer of Iranian natural gas.

Latifi said natural gas topped the list of Iran’s export items to neighboring Turkey, followed by dried nuts, fruit and foods, metals, petrochemicals and construction materials, among other products.

Turkey’s main exports items to Iran included legumes, barley, banana, seeds, animal feed and cooking oil, he said.

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Ahead of the conference, under more sanctions by the US, Iran Vice President Sorena Sattari met Turkey Minister for Industry and Technology Mustafa Varank who said the two regional heavyweights were set to develop their trade ties in the industry, technology, and science in particular.

The Turkish minister also pledged to enhance cooperation with Iran to help resolve problems in the region, less than two weeks after the United States imposed tougher economic sanctions on the Islamic Republic, Anadolu news agency said.

The meetings come after President Donald Trump said this month the United States had increased sanctions on Iran following an Iranian missile strike on military bases housing American troops in Iraq.

“It’s already been done. We’ve increased them. They were very severe, but now it’s increased substantially,” Trump told reporters at the White House.

Relations between Iran and Turkey have grown closer under President Recep Tayyip Erdogan despite the most draconian sanctions which the United States has imposed on the Islamic Republic.

The ties between the two neighbors came on the radar in 2017 when a deputy chief executive of Turkey’s state-run Halkbank was put on trial at a New York court on a charge of helping to evade US sanctions on Iran.

Top Turkish officials offered their sympathy with Iran after the United States assassinated General Qassem Soleimani in Baghdad this month, which saw tensions between Tehran and Washington snowball into a possible military confrontation.

Varank on Wednesday touched on age-old friendly relations between Iran and Turkey, saying continuing close consultations between the two countries was ever more important given the critical developments in the region.

“Improving our close dialogue and multidimensional cooperation will make a significant contribution to the stability and prosperity of our regions, as well as to the interests of our people. I believe that with our mutual efforts, we can further our cooperation, especially in the fields of industry, technology, and science,” he said.

Sattari said important efforts have been made in Iran in recent years to develop a science-based economy, citing very large companies established in this field.

“These companies have carried out great activities in the fields of information and communication technologies, biotechnology, nanotechnology, and medicine both in our country and the region and achieved significant results,” he said.

Sattari said the size of human resources in Iranian universities has led to further development of the science-based economy.

Iran and Turkey have agreed to step up their economic cooperation and raise their annual trade to $30 billion.

Ankara has denounced unilateral US sanctions on Tehran, saying it is determined to maintain trade with the Islamic Republic.

Iran is a key gas supplier to Turkey which receives 353 billion cubic feet per year under a 25-year agreement signed in 2001.

Head of the National Iranian Gas Company Hassan Montazer Torbati said last March that Turkey had requested to purchase more natural gas from Iran.

Last year, the two countries signed a document to enhance their mutual strategic partnership during a visit by Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu to Tehran.

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