Economy minister Karen Chshmarityan (Source: Photolure)

YEREVAN (ARKA)–After sanctions against the Islamic Republic of Iran are removed, better conditions will exist for Armenia to use Tehran’s economic potential, Armenia’s economy minister Karen Chshmarityan said on Thursday.

“The better the relationship with our neighbor Iran is, the better it is for us. The more liberal the Iranian economy is, the better it is for us,” said Chshmarityan.

According to him, Armenia’s cooperation with Iran can develop in virtually all directions.

“This 80 million-person market has been embargoed for 37 years. Iran has great potential, and its use at the level of bilateral cooperation is very important and promising for Armenia,” said Chshmarityan.

On July 14, a deal was reached by world powers and Iran on limiting Iranian nuclear activity in return for the lifting of international economic sanctions against Tehran. The deal followed 17 days of almost uninterrupted negotiations in Vienna involving foreign ministers from seven countries—Iran, US, UK, Russia, China, France and Germany, as well as the EU’s foreign policy chief, Federica Mogherini.

The Ministry of Transport and Communications of Armenia seeks to implement the program of building of the Iran-Armenia railway. Deputy Minister of Transport and Communications Arthur Arakelyan spoke about the initiative during a meeting with journalists following a session of government.

“An expensive technical and economic study of the implementation of the project has been developed. By this moment we are conducting talks, trying to solve the financial issues of the implementation of the program. There are interested companies, which are ready to finance a part of the project,” said Arakelyan.

At the same time, the Deputy Minister stated that the program is quite expensive and that it is necessary to have a comprehensive solution.