Iranian Economy Minister Seyed Shamseddin Hosseini in a meeting with Turkish State Minister Hayati Yazichi expressed the pleasure that Ankara has replaced London as Tehran's fourth trade partner, reported Fars News Agency.
"We are very pleased that Turkey has replaced Britain as Iran's fourth economic partner," Hosseini said on Wednesday.
Hosseini called for the further promotion of trade between the two neighbors, and added, "Obstacles in the way of trade between the two nations in the fields of imports, exports and customs should be removed."
The Iranian official said that both countries agree to expand their bilateral economic cooperation and expect the value of trade between the countries would hit 30 billion dollars.
Yazici, for his turn, praised the current level of Tehran-Ankara relations and called for accelerated implementation of agreements signed between the countries.
Iran and Turkey have in recent years increased their cooperation in all the various fields of economy, security, trade, education, energy and culture.
The two sides have exchanged several politico-economic delegations during the last few months.
Turkish President Abdullah Gul in a meeting with Iranian Parliament Speaker Ali Larijani in February underlined the need for the removal of obstacles to the further expansion of bilateral economic ties with Iran in a bid to boost trade cooperation between the two countries.
"The level of economic and trade cooperation between the two countries does not suit the age-old ties of the two nations and we should remove the obstacles to the development of mutual cooperation between Iran and Turkey," Gul said at the time.