Iran exports over $9bln of commodities to Turkey

Iran's exports to Turkey hit $9bln in the first 11 months of 2013. Iran accounted for 4.2 percent of Turkey's imports and 2.4 percent of that country's exports in the same period. Trade transactions between the two neighboring states hit $13.5bln in the first 11 months of 2013. Late in November, Iran's Ambassador to Turkey Alireza Bigdeli said Tehran and Ankara should identify and activate their latent and inactive trade capacities in a bid to further broaden the relations between the two friendly nations. “There are a lot of areas between Iran and Turkey that we could trade, (and) we should revive those, too,” the Iranian envoy said. Also in November, Turkish Economy Minister Zafer Caglayan underlined that his country is ready to further expand economic and trade relations and exchanges with Iran. The Turkish minister pointed to the willingness of his country’s companies and banks to enhance economic ties with Iran, and said, “All Turkish banks will be able to conduct transactions with Iran should the sanctions imposed against Tehran be eased in the wake of a recent deal between the Islamic Republic and the Sextet of world powers.” He reiterated that Halkbank and other Turkish banks will announce their readiness to process Iran's foreign banking transactions soon. State-owned Halkbank is one of Turkey's biggest banks.