Iran said on Thursday that Russia has agreed to give it a major loan worth $7-8 billion.

The announcement was made by Iran’s First Deputy Industrial Minister Mojtaba Khosrowtaj in an interview with RIA Novosti.

Khosrowtaj added that Moscow and Tehran have agreed on the main conditions of allotting the loan that he said will be provided under joint projects with Russian companies.

“The loan would be applied to purveyors from Russia and buyers in Iran for the realization of projects,” he said.

“Yes, we have reached such a high-level agreement. Now it’s the work of the banks to agree on the technical details of work in this scheme,” Khosrowtaj added.

The Iranian official’s announcement was confirmed by Russia’s Energy Minister Alexander Novak who said Moscow considering providing two loans worth $7 billion in total to Iran.

Russia's state Vnesheconombank (VEB) and Iran's central bank are in talks on 2 billion euro ($2.1 billion) loan to Iran, while Russia and Iran are also in talks over intergovernmental loan from Russia to Iran worth $5 billion, Reuters quoted Novak as telling the reporters.

The Russian minister had earlier said the $5-billion loan will be used for infrastructure projects, mostly likely electrical power generation and the development of railways.

The loan is expected to boost trade between the two countries. The target is $10 billion, from the current $1.6 billion, RT reported.

The loans announcement came as Iran’s Minister of Communication and Information Technology Mahmoud Vaezi is in Moscow at the head of a delegation of 70 traders to discuss ways to expand economic ties.

On a related front, Sputnik news agency reported that Vaezi had discussed the issue of the loan with both the Russian finance minister Anton Siluanov and the head of the Russian Central Bank Elvira Nabiullina.

The Iranian minister – who co-chairs the Iran-Russia Joint Economic Commission with Novak – had told reporters in October that that Russia has pledged to issue a credit line of $5 billion for joint projects with Iran.

Other officials said the joint projects will mainly include the construction, by Russian companies, of infrastructure, transport, geological exploration and other facilities.