This article was originally published by Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty and is reprinted with permission.
Industry officials from Iran, Russia, and Turkey are considering a joint program to design and manufacture automobiles in view of disruptions caused by Western sanctions, Iranian state media reported.
“There is a great possibility of tripartite cooperation between car manufacturers and suppliers of the three countries,” said Mohammadreza Najafi-Manesh, the head of Iran’s Auto Parts Manufacturers Association, according to the IRNA news agency.
“These three countries can capture a large market for their products,” Najafi-Manesh said.
Najafi-Manesh said the idea was first floated by Turkey and that Russia was “interested.”
Western nations have slapped financial sanctions on Russia following its invasion of Ukraine.
The United States also reimposed crippling sanctions on Iran in 2018 after Washington pulled out of a deal with world powers on Iran’s nuclear program.
Many Western car manufacturers launched projects in Russia to assemble cars over the past two decades, but most pulled out after the Kremlin sent troops into Ukraine in February.
