Baku, Azerbaijan, Oct. 3
By Fatih Karimov - Trend:
The situation is created for return of Iranian tankers to Europe.
Ali-Akbar Safaei, managing director of National Iranian Tanker Company (NITC), said negotiations are underway with Asian and European countries, adding that the situation is very suitable for resuming activity in European markets, Fars news agency reported on October 3.
"We have prepared many prerequisites. We are assured that with good technical conditions, the national tanker fleet can enter new markets," he added.
"Plans for the post-sanctions era for the short term are based on resuming operation in markets which we lost as a result of the sanctions," he noted.
NITC - a major transporter of Iran's oil - contested the EU's original blacklisting last year, arguing that the firm is privately owned by Iranian pension funds. It has denied any links with the Iranian government or with the Islamic Revolutionary Guards.
Safaei said in July that the nuclear deal with the P5+1 group and the adoption of the deal by the UN Security Council will open a new chapter in the Iranian economy and especially in the country's maritime industry.
"With measures which have been taken over the past year, we can announce that there is no problem to expand operations in the international market," Safaei said.