Sputnik- Russian Federation Council speaker Valentina Matvienko said that Iran will be ready to sign the agreement on the creation of a free trade zone with the Eurasian Economic Union in 2017.

TEHRAN (Sputnik) — Iran will be ready to sign the agreement on the creation of a free trade zone with the Eurasian Economic Union (EEU) in 2017, Russian Federation Council speaker Valentina Matvienko said in a statement.

"Iran is ready to finish by the end of the year the first stage of preparation of documents necessary for joining the free trade zone, so that the country would be ready to sign the agreement next year," Matvienko told reporters following the meeting with President of Iran Hassan Rouhani.

The agreement stipulates the creation of a free trade zone between Iran and the EEU in order to boost the turnover and stimulate mutual trade. Matvienko noted that the president of Iran also urged to strengthen the efforts on including Iran to the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO).

In late December, it was reported that Iran and the EEU, comprising Russia, Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan, were beginning to work on a free trade zone agreement.