Azernews.Az

By Sara Rajabova

An Iranian official says France' energy companies are desperately seeking to invest in Iran as soon as sanctions against the country are lifted.

Iranian Deputy Oil Minister for International and Trade affairs, Ali Majedi said several major French oil companies have voiced readiness for having a presence in Iran's oil industry, but they have said they are waiting for sanctions to be lifted.

Iran's oil ministry has already held talks with oil giant Total, oil and gas services provider Technip as well as GDF Suez.

Majedi said the major oil companies are closely monitoring the conditions of Iran sanctions and they will come to invest in Iran's oil industry as soon as the problems are resolved.

The Iranian official's remarks come as a French delegation of more than 100 businessmen wrapped up a three-day visit to Tehran on February 5.

The French delegates on this trip represented various sectors of its industry including its banking, telecommunications and shipping.

The group, which included representatives of major multinational companies such as Total, Lafarge and Peugeot, arrived in Tehran less than two weeks after the recent easing of sanctions against Iran in late January.

It is the biggest economic delegation that the country has sent to Iran since the 1979 victory of the Islamic Revolution in Iran.

The French delegation is also the largest of its kind from Europe since last November's landmark nuclear deal was signed between Iran and the world powers in Geneva.

Under the interim agreement between Iran and the five permanent UN Security Council members - Britain, China, France, Russia and the United States plus Germany- Iran limited certain aspects of its nuclear activities for a six-month period in return for some relief from the Western sanctions.

World oil giants have voiced their readiness to return to Iran following the easing of sanctions against Iran in light of the implementation of Tehran's nuclear deal with the six world powers.

The Iranian officials said Spain's Repsol, Royal Dutch Shell, British Petroleum (BP), France's Total, Italy's Eni and Russia's Lukoil have shown willingness for investment in Iran.

Prior to the French delegation, a large Turkish delegation visited Iran last month. The group was headed by Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who said the neighboring countries aimed to more than double their trade volume to $30 billion in 2014.