Baku, Azerbaijan, Mar. 11
By Umid Niayesh, Fatih Karimov - Trend:
UK companies have been victimized by sanctions imposed against Iran, head of Iran-UK Chamber of Commerce Lord Norman Lamont said.
Lamont made the remarks in a meeting with Abbas Ali Mansouri Arani, member of the Iranian parliament's National Security and Foreign Policy Commission in London.
The sanctions have imposed serious damages to UK companies and traders, Lamont said, Iran's ICANA news agency reported March 11.
Mansouri Arani, who heads Britain-Iran parliamentary friendship group said that trade with Iran is in favor of the UK.
He recommended British companies not to lose the opportunity to invest in Iran.
"There are good investment opportunities in Iran's oil, gas, energy and mining sectors as well as the country's transport infrastructure," the Iranian MP said.
Heading a parliamentary delegation Mansouri Arani arrived in London on March 8 to discuss bilateral relations with British MPs.
The delegation was originally planned to visit London in November, but the trip was canceled following British Prime Minister David Cameron's remarks, which Iranian officials believe were anti-Iran.
Last September Cameron said, "Iran's support for terrorist organizations, its nuclear program, its treatment of its people need to change," while addressing the UN General Assembly in New York.
Trade between Iran and the UK rose by 25 percent in 2014 compared to 2013, according to the EU statistics agency Eurostat.
The bilateral trade amounted to €152 million in 2014, compared to €121 million in 2013, the report added.
The UK exported €113 million worth of goods to Iran, a 27 percent rise compared to the year before. Imports from Iran rose by 21 percent and hit €39 million.
Edited by CN
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