Iran-Russia annual trade to reach $40 billion in 1.5 years

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The volume of annual trade between Iran and Russia will hit $40 billion within the next 18 months, Iranian Petroleum Minister Javad Owji said Tuesday.

The remarks were made during Russia's National Day, with Owji revealing that Iran has projects agreed upon with Russia and China in the banking sector.

The banking projects due to be implemented by Russia, China, and Iran, Owji stressed, will put an end to the dominance of the USD in the near future.

Iran and Russia are two main suppliers of oil and gas in the world, he noted. "Playing with these two countries would be a major threat to the world energy security."

Europe's reliance on energy is not a game, and it cannot be easily compensated, Owji underlined as the European markets struggle due to the absence of Russian oil from the energy market, which was caused by the western sanctions on Moscow.

"The game has been experienced before in other countries."

The United States is trying to convince its allies in the Gulf to pump out more oil to compensate for the lack of Russian oil in the market.

A group of six Democrat US members of Congress sent earlier today a letter to President Joe Biden urging him to secure commitments from Saudi Arabia to stabilize the situation in the global energy markets.

The Biden administration has long been requesting that the Saudi government increase oil production in order to lower gasoline prices ahead of the midterm elections and to push for a slew of sanctions against Russian oil in the midst of the ongoing war in Ukraine. However, the Saudis have not shown any interest in it thus far.