The Armenian government decided to ban the import of Turkish goods beginning from December 31, 2020. According to media reports from Iran, the country is now going to replace thousands of items with products produced in the Islamic Republic, Tasnim news agency reports.

The Director-General of the Asia-Pacific Department of Iran’s Trade Promotion Organization (TPO), Mojtaba Mousavian Armenia is planning to replace 2,250 Turkish commodity items with Iran-made products.

A board member of the Iran Chamber of Commerce, Industries, Mines and Agriculture (ICCIMA) has reportedly said that Iran now has the advantage of exporting goods such as sweets and chocolates, ceramic tiles, detergents, shoes, flooring and carpets and textile and clothing to Armenia, in addition to the previously traded items.

“We may not have been able to make good use of regional agreements in the past, but this is an opportunity for us to enter the Armenian market with full force,” Ali Shariati said.

The Armenian government imposed a temporary embargo on Turkish products in October 2020. Besides the economic side of the issue, restrictions on the import of Turkish products were also conditioned by a security component, as Turkey openly supported Azerbaijan in its war against Artsakh (Nagorno-Karabakh).