Today, on June 1, Sergey Zhvachkin, Governor of the Tomsk region, and Mehdi Sanaei, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Islamic Republic of Iran to the Russian Federation, who came to the Tomsk region with a two-day visit, had a working meeting in the Administration of the Tomsk region.

The governor and the head of Iranian diplomatic mission discussed the rate and prospects of cooperation between the region and the Islamic Republic in scientific, education, technical, cultural and other spheres.

So far, the total trade turnover between the region and Iran is small, amounting to slightly over 315 thousand US dollars in 2017. The Iranians mostly buy Tomsk wooden products, electrical equipment and research equipment.

‘Five thousand kilometers between the Tomsk region and Iran are not a barrier for joint work’ the governor stressed. ‘We are united by the production of oil and gas, close attention to scientific research. There are only two Iranian students in Tomsk universities, but I think the number will soon increase, because young people from 68 countries go to Tomsk to get knowledge’.

Joint research projects with Tomsk scientific centers show the prospects of cooperation between the residents of Tomsk and Iran. For instance, National Research Tomsk Polytechnic University works with Iranian Green Future Research Co. Ltd, which is the agent of the Ministry of Science of Iran. The Tomsk Institute for High-Current Electronics SB RAS cooperates with the Ministry of Technology of Iran. ‘Our countries have common approach to solving many problems and our relations have large prospects’ said Mehdi Sanaei during the meeting.

The Tomsk governor thanked the Iranian Ambassador for the visit to the Tomsk region during the holy month of Ramadan.

‘The Tomsk region is famous for not only its scientific achievements, but also for peaceful co-existence of many nations. Representatives of 140 nations live here and we have never had ethnic conflicts’ said Sergey Zhvachkin and invited Mehdi Sanaei to closer cooperation.