The preliminary deal on Iran’s nuclear programme will fire a starting pistol on a stampede of western business interests into a potentially vast untapped market.
Even as the negotiations were in their latter stages, the expectation of an eventual agreement and the lifting of sanctions brought an ever-increasing influx of the world’s corporations to Tehran to make contacts and voice their interest.
“Consulting companies are reviving old contacts, lots of signs that companies are pre-positioning themselves. One sign of the degree of interest is that it’s impossible to get a hotel room these days in Tehran,” said an Iranian businessman.
At the head of the queue have been oil and gas companies, but there are other markets in Iran with enormous potential because the country has been behind a wall of sanctions for so long. There will, for example, be intense competition between Airbus and Boeing to supply parts and planes for Iran’s ageing fleet.
“There have already been ongoing discussions between Iranian aviation officials and the two global aerospace giants,” “Those discussions have happened with the approval of Europeans and Americans. They recognise how important an issue this is for Iranians, who have some of the oldest passenger planes in the world.”
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