Russian-backed union free trade deal with Iran goes into effect
The EEU also includes Kazakhstan, Belarus, Armenia, and Kyrgyzstan, but Russia is by far the largest economy in the union. Russia and Iran have grown closer in recent years and trade between the two countries, both heavily sanctioned by the West, grew by 16% to $4.8 billion last year.
Moscow and Tehran signed a 20-year strategic partnership agreement in January, the two countries have supplied each other with weapons, and Russia has defended what it says is Tehran's right to peaceful nuclear energy.
"Over the past decades, Iran has protected its market by encouraging the development of its own competencies within the country, and for the first time in its history, has opened its market to goods from third countries," Deputy Prime Minister Alexei Overchuk told Russian news agencies.
He estimated that the average tariff applied by Iran to Russian goods under the deal will fall to 5.2% from the current 16.7%, saving Russian exporters about $300 million a year.
Iran's Oil Minister Mohsen Paknejad, who visited Moscow in April, stated that the free trade deal will increase bilateral trade to $6 billion. Iran was the third-largest buyer of Russian wheat in 2024.
Overchuk said that Russian exporters of rolled products, metal structures, pipes, paper, radar equipment, grains, sunflower, soybean, and rapeseed oils, as well as sunflower seeds, are set to receive the most benefits from the deal.
The Kremlin said on Wednesday that Russian President Vladimir Putin has an invitation to visit Iran, but the dates have not yet been agreed.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
10 minutes ago
- Yahoo
EU's von der Leyen: trade deal delivers certainty in uncertain times
PRESTWICK, Scotland (Reuters) -European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen on Sunday said a U.S. baseline tariff rate of 15% on imported EU goods would apply to cars, semiconductors and pharmaceutical goods. She also said that a zero-for-zero tariff rate had been agreed for certain strategic products, including aircraft and aircraft parts, certain chemicals, and certain generic drugs. No decision had been taken on a rate for wine and spirits, she added. "Today's deal creates certainty in uncertain times, delivers stability and predictability," von der Leyen told reporters before leaving Scotland. Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
Atlantic
2 hours ago
- Atlantic
Zelensky Went Soft on Corruption Because the U.S. Did
Volodymyr Zelensky built a mythic reputation as a lonely bulwark against global tyranny. On Tuesday, the president of Ukraine signed that reputation away, enacting a law that gutted the independence of his country's anti-corruption agencies just as they closed in on his closest political allies, reportedly including one of his longtime business partners and a former deputy prime minister. To justify the decision, he cloaked it in an invented conspiracy, insinuating that Russian moles had implanted themselves in the machinery of justice. This is a scoundrel's playbook. Despite the ongoing war, Ukrainians swamped the streets of Kyiv in protest of their president's betrayal of democracy, forcing Zelensky to introduce new legislation reversing the bill he had just signed into law. It was a concession of error—and possibly an empty gesture, because the new bill is hardly a lock to pass the legislature. That Zelensky brazenly weakened Ukraine's anti-corruption guardrails in the first place shouldn't come as a shock. They were erected only under sustained pressure from the Obama administration as part of an explicit bargain: In exchange for military and financial support, Ukraine would rein in its oligarchs and reform its public institutions. Over time, the country drifted, however unevenly, toward a system that was more transparent, less captive to hidden hands. But in the Trump era, the United States has grown proudly tolerant of global corruption. In fact, it actively encourages its proliferation. Beyond the president's own venal example, this is deliberate policy. Brick by brick, Donald Trump has dismantled the apparatus that his predecessors built to constrain global kleptocracy, and leaders around the world have absorbed the fact that the pressure for open, democratic governance is off. Anne Applebaum: Kleptocracy, Inc. Three weeks into his current term, Trump paused enforcement of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act—loudly declaring that the United States wasn't going to police foreign bribery. Weeks later, America skipped a meeting of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development's anti-bribery working group for the first time since its founding 30 years ago. As the head of the anti-corruption group Transparency International warned, Trump was sending 'a dangerous signal that bribery is back on the table.' For decades, the more than prosecute bribery cases; it tried to cultivate civil-society organizations that helped emerging democracies combat corruption themselves. But upon returning to the presidency, Trump destroyed USAID, the National Endowment for Democracy, and the U.S. Institute of Peace, dismantling the constellation of government agencies that had quietly tutored investigative journalists, trained judges, and funded watchdogs. These groups weren't incidental casualties in DOGE's seemingly scattershot demolition of the American state. Trump long loathed the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, which he described as a 'horrible law,' an animus stoked by the fact that some of his closest associates have been accused of murky dealings abroad. Crushing programs and organizations that fight kleptocracy meshed with the 'America First' instincts of his base; the likes of Tucker Carlson and Steve Bannon abhor the export of liberal values to the world. From the wreckage of these institutions, a Trump Doctrine has taken shape, one that uses American economic and political power to shield corrupt autocrats from accountability. Benjamin Netanyahu, on trial for bribery, fraud, and breach of trust, has been a prime beneficiary. Just as he was preparing to testify under oath, Trump denounced the prosecution as a 'political witch hunt' and threatened to withhold U.S. aid if the trial moved forward. Given Israel's reliance on American support, the threat had bite. Not long after Trump's outburst, the court postponed Netanyahu's testimony, citing national-security concerns. Trump acts as if justice for strongmen is a moral imperative. No retaliatory measure is apparently off limits. To defend his populist ally in Brazil, Jair Bolsonaro, who faces charges related to an attempted coup, Trump revoked the visa of Alexandre de Moraes, the Supreme Court justice overseeing the case. Last month, Trump threatened to impose 50 percent tariffs on Brazilian steel, aluminum, and agricultural exports to punish the country for Bolsonaro's prosecution. This is hard-nosed realism, not just ideological kinship. To protect himself, Trump must defend the rights of populist kleptocrats everywhere. He must discredit the sort of prosecution that he might someday face. That requires recasting malfeasance as perfectly acceptable statesmanship. Listen: The kleptocracy club By stripping anti-corruption from the moral vocabulary of American foreign policy, Trump is reengineering the global order. He's laying the foundation for a new world in which kleptocracy flourishes unfettered, because there's no longer a superpower that, even rhetorically, aspires to purge the world of corruption. Of course, the United States has never pushed as hard as it could, and ill-gotten gains have been smuggled into its bank accounts, cloaked in shell companies. Still, oligarchs were forced to disguise their thievery, because there was at least the threat of legal consequence. In the world that Trump is building, there's no need for disguise—corruption is a credential, not a liability. Zelensky is evidence of the new paradigm. Although his initial campaign for president in 2019 was backed by an oligarch, he could never be confused for Bolsonaro or Netanyahu. He didn't enrich himself by plundering the state. But now that Trump has given the world permission to turn away from the ideals of good governance, even the sainted Zelensky has seized the opportunity to protect the illicit profiteering of his friends and allies. Yet there's a legacy of the old system that Trump hasn't wholly eliminated: the institutions and civil societies that the United States spent a generation helping build. In Ukraine, those organizations and activists have refused to accept a retreat into oligarchy, and they might still preserve their governmental guardians against corruption. For now, they are all that remain between the world and a new golden age of impunity.
New York Post
2 hours ago
- New York Post
Inside the harrowing attack on Syria's Druze — and why the US' first step in the right direction is vital
I woke to voice notes from Mazen, his Suwayda Druze dialect thick with tears. 'Jolani's ISIS are massacring us,' he said, referring to the forces of Syrian President Ahmad al-Sharaa, formerly known as Jolani from his Al-Qaeda days. 'Please talk to anyone you know in Washington to help us,' he pleaded. Over the next five days, I exchanged information with Mazen, Muhannad, Makram, Gadeer, Shadi and other Druze in Syria, Lebanon and Israel, piecing together the unfolding horror. I was the only non-Druze in the group. Advertisement To us, it was clear: Damascus had ordered a massacre against the Druze in southern Syria. 5 Bedouin fighters walk near a damaged car, following the Syrian presidency's announcement of a ceasefire after days of violence in Sweida province triggered by clashes between Bedouin fighters and Druze factions. REUTERS As a Lebanese civil war survivor, I've faced near-death experiences and reported on assassinations. Despite losing close friends to violence in Lebanon and Iraq, I've trained myself to detach, keeping emotions separate from my work. But no one grows numb to massacres. Once you connect with victims, helplessness sets in. Advertisement On normal days, I make noise about Middle Eastern issues, but as Druze fell to Islamist bullets, I felt powerless. How do you stop death? How do you make the world hear? The Druze in Israel worked tirelessly, lobbying for the Jewish state to intervene and deter Sharaa. Israel eventually acted, destroying Islamist convoys heading south and striking a building in Damascus to warn Sharaa. 5 Following sectarian clashes this month between Druze and Bedouin tribes, Israel eventually acted, destroying Islamist convoys heading south and striking a building in Damascus to warn Sharaa. Getty Images Suddenly, the narrative shifted to international law — not condemning Syria for killing its citizens, but criticizing Israel for violating Syrian sovereignty. This same Israeli action had previously weakened Hezbollah in Lebanon and Syria, paving Sharaa's path to power. Advertisement Yet now, Syrian sovereignty was the focus. After Israel's warning, Sharaa paused but didn't stop. Cunningly, he continued the violence through proxies. 'He ordered his forces to swap military uniforms for tribal outfits, calling them clans,' Mazen said. 'Our guys in Suwayda captured several 'clansmen' who still carried military IDs.' Mazen, Muhannad and others eventually outlined the attacking force. Advertisement 5 Outnumbered and outgunned, the Druze suffered heavy losses over three days. Here, Druze women gather to cross back into Syria at the Israeli-Syrian border. AP Three of Sharaa's top lieutenants — Hussain al-Salama (Chief of Intelligence), Youssef Al-Hajr (HTS Political Chief) and Muhammad al-Jassim (Abu Amsheh, a Turkish-backed commander) — orchestrated the tribal attack. Salama and Al-Hajr, from the Aqidat clan, and Al-Jassim, from the Nuaym clan, both based in northeastern Syria, used state-supervised mosque networks to rally 15,000 fighters whom they bused over 350 miles to attack the Druze in the south. No ties linked the northern and southern clans. The 'revenge' narrative was bogus. Outnumbered and outgunned, the Druze suffered heavy losses over three days. 5 Syrian leader Ahmed al-Sharaa. Getty Images Sharaa's Islamists entered homes, massacring families including Evangelical pastor Khalid Mezher and 20 of his relatives. An American citizen, Hosam Saraya, visiting Suwayda, was dragged in the street and executed with his family. A captured government fighter confessed that Sharaa's forces were instructed to wear civilian clothes and use civilian vehicles to evade Israeli airstrikes. They were ordered to kill any Druze they encountered, either by shooting or beheading. Of the 3,500 fighters transported in 800 vehicles, 200 were foreign Islamists from Chechnya and Central Asia, including suicide bombers tasked with targeting Druze gatherings. Advertisement As clashes continued, Mazen's updates grew grim: 'This is where my retired uncle was killed in his house,' or 'That's where my maternal cousins were gunned down.' We wanted to console him, but there was no time for emotions — not for Mazen, Muhannad, or any of us. US Envoy Tom Barrack claimed the perpetrators were Islamists posing as government forces. We were certain he was wrong, likely unaware of US intelligence and echoing Damascus's talking points. 5 Sharaa denied his government's role in the onslaught against the Druze people. Here, Tribal and bedouin fighters cross Walga town amid clashes with Druze gunmen. AFP via Getty Images Sharaa denied his government's role in the onslaught, yet water, electricity and internet were cut off in Suwayda. Government checkpoints blocked food and medicine. Advertisement Our sources went silent. Mazen explained that batteries were dying, and those with satellite phones were busy searching for missing loved ones or burying the dead. The Druze were drowning in blood and grief, unable to update us, their window to the world. Washington announced a ceasefire on Friday, but it didn't take hold until Sunday. When the shooting stopped, the scale of the disaster emerged. The tally stands so far at 3,300 dead Druze out of Syria's 700,000 Druze population — the equivalent of America's September 11 and Israel's October 7. With electricity and internet restored, videos surfaced: hundreds of summary executions, an unarmed Druze man shot by Sharaa's forces without question, another pleading for his life before being killed for being Druze. Government forces looted shops and homes, desecrated houses of worship and left graffiti vowing to exterminate the Druze and establish an Islamist state. Advertisement President Trump met Sharaa in May and announced the removal of sanctions on Syria. But the Suwayda massacre prompted the House Financial Services Committee to reconsider. Instead of fully repealing the 2019 Caesar sanctions, they voted to amend them, allowing removal only if Syria stops killing civilians, including minorities. Congress has taken a step in the right direction. Past experiments — lifting sanctions on Iran or funneling Qatari billions to Hamas — showed that Islamists don't moderate with money. There's no reason to believe Sharaa will be different. 'Trust but verify' must be America's policy on Syria. Washington isn't even demanding accountability. Hussain Abdul-Hussain is a Foundation for Defense of Democracies research fellow.
