On June 28-30, 2021, the delegation led by the RA Deputy Minister of Economy Varos Simonyan was in the Islamic Republic of Iran to participate in the first session of the Armenian-Iranian working group established by the Memorandum of Understanding signed on May 24, 2021, between the RA Ministry of Economy and the Ministry of Roads and Urban Development of the Islamic Republic of Iran.

The Armenian side of the working group was headed by the RA Deputy Minister of Economy Varos Simonyan, and the Iranian side was led by Dayrush Amani, the Deputy Minister of Roads and Urban Development of Iran. The members of the delegation were Armen Simonyan, the RA Deputy Minister of Territorial Administration and Infrastructure, Vardan Kostanyan, the Deputy Chairman of the State Property Management Committee of the RA Ministry of Territorial Administration and Infrastructure, Armen Ayvazyan, the Head of the Foreign Relations Department of the RA Ministry of Economy, and Artem Karapetyan, the Head of the Customs Control Department of the RA State Revenue Committee.

The members of the working group reaffirmed their readiness to perform activities aimed at expansion of economic cooperation between the two countries and development of bilateral trade relations, as well as take practical steps to simplify or eliminate procedures that hinder the afore-mentioned development.

During the visit, the Armenian delegation had meetings with Daryush Amani, the Deputy Minister of Roads and Urban Development of the Islamic Republic of Iran, Hamid Zadbum, the Deputy Minister of Industry, Mining and Trade of the Islamic Republic of Iran, Gholamhossein Shafei, the President of the Iranian Chamber of Commerce, and Mohammad Ali Shojayi, the Governor of North Khorasan.

Meetings were also held with the leadership of the National Innovation Fund under the Office of the President of Iran and the Customs Service of the Islamic Republic of Iran.

During the meetings, issues on the agenda of the Armenian-Iranian economic cooperation were discussed, including the cargo transportation problems hindering bilateral trade, establishment of possible mechanisms of goods circulation between the two countries, the participation of Iranian businessmen in the Meghri FEZ, customs documentation and information exchange, prospects of cooperation between Armenia and North Khorasan region of Iran, as well as programs to be implemented in near future were outlined.

The parties agreed on the next, second session of the working group to be held before August 15, 2021, in Yerevan.