AKIPRESS.COM - Ambassador Ahmed Kurbanov said on Tuesday at the Governorate of Razavi Khorasan province in a meeting with Governor General Ya'aqoub-Ali Nazari that Tehran-Ashgabat trade volume reached $5.5 billion annually in peak of anti-Iran sanctions, but it is currently lower.

Kurbanov also noted that after the collapse of the former Soviet Union and Turkmenistan’s independence they realized that their country is a large producer of natural cotton, but they have no industries to turn it into threads of textile, Islamic Republic News Agency reported.

He said that Turkmenistan had only cotton, and therefore started its economy from scratch, and Iran, and especially Razavi Khorasan province played a great role in the country’s economy.

The governor of the province said in the meeting that Iran and Turkmenistan have great relations due to their shared religions. Nazari emphasized that Iran was among the first countries that recognized Turkmenistan’s independence 31 years ago.

He added that the expansion of relations among neighboring countries can be reached in peace and stability, which prevails along the two countries’ shared borders, noting that the province has mining, agricultural and foodstuff industries at the service of Turkmenistan.