Tehran, Iran, July 24
By Kamyar Eghbalnejad, A. Shirazi - Trend:
An official with Iran-Canada Economic Commission said the volume of trade exchange between Tehran and Ottawa in the first five months of 2018 reached $200 million.
Despite new restrictions set by the Canadian government on trade with Iran, the two countries traded goods worth $200 million in the first five months of the current year, Shahin Sheisi told Trend on July 24.
The value of Canada’s exports to Iran stood at $184 million, while Iran exported goods to Canada worth $194 million, he added.
The official further said that the amount is expected to reach $800 million by the end of the year.
Referring to impending US sanctions against Iran, Sheisi said the sanctions will and have affected business trades between the two countries.
"But I think that Iranian expatriates in the country have targeted new markets there and they need our goods," he said.
He described the future of ties between Tehran and Ottawa as “positive” and “promising”.
Sheisi, however, said that settlement of political differences is a perquisite for enhanced economic ties.
US President Donald Trump withdrew from the Iran nuclear deal in May, and Washington now plans to reimpose sanctions on Tehran next month. The first round of US sanctions on Iran goes into effect in August, followed by ones targeting Iran's oil exports in November.