Iran carmaker mulls exports to russia

TEHRAN: Iran's leading automaker is attempting to prioritize exports to Russia, according to its CEO on Sunday, as both countries are reeling under Western economic sanctions.

Iran Khodro unveiled the latest model of its crossover vehicle Rira at its factory west of Tehran, where CEO Mehdi Khatibi announced the manufacturer's ambitions for the Russian market.

He said we are thinking of partnering with Russian investors and we are going to pay special attention to the Russian market.

We have had good negotiations with Moscow. Khatibi said that the Russian market, with its capacities, will be one of our important markets.

He said that we will begin exporting to Russia this year.

Iran Khodro had previously exported vehicles to Russia, notably between 2007 and 2009, Iranian media said.

Russia has been under more stringent sanctions since its February invasion of Ukraine, while Iran has had stringent sanctions imposed in 2018 when the United States pulled out of a nuclear deal between Tehran and world powers.

The sanctions have helped boost cooperation in key areas to prop up their economies, and the two countries have responded to them by boosting cooperation in key areas.

The vice president of Iran Khodro, Kianoush Pourmojib, said on Sunday that there had been increased exports to Azerbaijan over the past five years.

He told AFP that we are ambitious about improving the quality of our vehicles.

He said that while the manufacturer hopes to compete in markets such as Azerbaijan, Oman and Iraq, it is of course Russia that is most important this year, and our goal is to export 100,000 vehicles annually, compared to fewer than 20,000 currently.