Baku, Azerbaijan, Dec. 25
By Temkin Jafarov, Umid Niayesh - Trend:
Iran's market is very attractive for western countries, Ebrahim Rahimpour, Iran's Deputy Foreign Minister for Asia and Oceania said.
"Currently they [western states] are seriously studying Iranian markets, preparing for post-sanctions period as the nuclear negotiations continue," Rahimpour told Trend Dec. 25.
He added that both Iran and west are interested in each other's markets and Tehran itself plans to establish a new balance in its foreign trade, based on new conditions.
However the Islamic Republic will not forget its trade partners during the sanctions period, he emphasized.
Iran was forced to boost trade ties with non-western countries to adapt itself the sanctions, Rahimpour said, adding Tehran successfully overcame the problems despite the sanctions.
Iran will continue trade with its current partners to maintain their markets and will establish trade ties with interested countries, after the sanctions are removed, he said.
The senior diplomat added that once the western sanctions against Iran are removed, the Islamic Republic's annual foreign trade is projected to increase to $200 billion from the current level of $140 billion.
Tehran's overall non-oil trade turnover (excluding condensates) surpassed $74.319 billion during the first ten months of 2014.
Exports shared $27.941 billion of the mentioned figure, indicating a 7.27 percent increase year on year.
It should be noted that talks between Iran and the P5+1 group (the US, UK, France, Russia, China plus Germany) is extended until July 1, 2015 to reach a comprehensive nuclear agreement.
After the sides failed to meet the 24 Nov. deadline they also extended the Geneva nuclear deal, which was signed in November 2013 for providing Iran with some sanctions relief in exchange for Tehran agreeing to limit certain aspects of its nuclear activities.
...