OREANDA-NEWS. The transportation of oil through Crimea, the transportation of which through the old routes became difficult for Iran due to sanctions, could become one of the areas of cooperation between the region and this Middle Eastern country, Deputy Chairman of the Council of Ministers of Crimea, Permanent Representative of the Republic under the President of the Russian Federation, Georgy Muradov, told the Russian media.

“Mutual interest in cooperation between Iran and Crimea is growing, especially given the anti-Iranian American policy, the sanctions that have been imposed on this country, and the related consequences. Some Iranian businessmen are interested in working in Crimea, although there is obvious active work on the Iranian side we don’t observe. We also give signals that we are ready to cooperate fruitfully with Iran, we are considering various options. For example, Iran could use our port facilities for oil transportation", Muradov said.

He explained that due to sanctions, the Suez Canal, through which tankers with Iranian oil traditionally went, was closed to this country. Meanwhile, both Iran and the Russian Federation have access to the Caspian Sea. "While we are exploring opportunities in areas that are most interesting to us. And we say that we are ready to cooperate with those Iranian businessmen who come to us and are active. Representatives of business, financial sector from this country have already been to Crimea", he added Muradov.

Now Crimea, Iran and Syria are under the sanctions of Western countries, and companies working with these countries or Crimea in certain areas are also sanctioned. At the same time, Iran and Syria maintain partnerships with the Russian Federation. In June, Nikolai Patrushev, Secretary of the Security Council of the Russian Federation, said that Iran had proposed the creation of a permanent international mechanism to combat sanctions, and "in principle, this proposal was supported".