TEHRAN, Iran, May 22
Trend:
There has been a pause in trade between Iran and Britain due to coronavirus spread, Head of the British Iranian Chamber of Commerce Amir Houshang Amini told Trend.
"All the commercial transactions were practically closed from the start of new Iranian year [began March 20, 2020] due to spread of Coronavirus, while all the visa offices have also been closed," he said. "The British Embassy has been closed during past three weeks and no negotiation meeting for bilateral trade has been held."
"UK has exported medical items to Iran but the volume was not significant and it was similar to other European countries," he said.
Iran import volume from the UK during last Iranian year (began March 21, 2019) was 141 million tons of goods valued $69 million, he said adding that Iran has exported 267,400 tons of goods to Britain valued $486,000 in the same period.
Trade turnover between the two countries has dropped following the US withdrawal from the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action and re-imposing sanctions against Iran.
In first half of 2019, Iran's mainly exported petrochemical products, carpet, floor coverings and food items to the UK, while it primarily imported cosmetics and sanitary items, meat, clothes and fruit concentrate from Great Britain.
The Eurostat statistics show the two countries had €69 million trade during first half of 2019, which is 30-percent drop comparing the same time in 2018.