Tehran, Iran, Dec. 28
By Milad Fashtami - Trend:
Western companies are preparing to create their branches in Iran.
The Head of Iran's Presidential Office Mohammad Nahavandian said several countries have sent trade and political delegations to Iran in the past few months, the Mehr news agency reported Dec. 28.
"This shows that a positive atmosphere has been created in western countries about nuclear talks with Iran," he explained.
"Cruel international sanctions on Iran created a gap between the economies of Iran and several countries, so it takes some time to pave the way for their return," he added.
Iran and P5+1 (China, France, Russia, the UK, the US and Germany) sealed an interim deal in Geneva Nov. 24, 2013 to pave the way for a full resolution of the West's decade-old dispute with Iran over the country's nuclear energy program.
The Geneva deal took effect on Jan. 20 and expired on July 20.
However the two sides agreed to extend their talks for four months until Nov. 24 to reach a permanent deal on Iran's disputed nuclear program.
At a meeting held Nov. 24, 2014, the sides agreed to extend the talks for further seven months.
During the past year, some $7 billion of Iran's frozen assets in India, China, and South Korea have been released.
Based on the agreement between Tehran and the P5+1, Iran will also receive $700 million of its frozen assets each month for the next six months.
The US government has estimated Iran's frozen assets at around $100 billion.