Iran eyes $185bn oil and gas bonanza as Kerry fights to clear sanctions deal

Iran is targeting oil and gas projects worth $185bn by 2020 as it rebuilds its main industries and trade relationships following a nuclear agreement with world powers. The Islamic Republic said on Thursday it would focus on its oil and gas, metals and car industries with an eye to exporting to Europe after sanctions have been lifted, rather than simply importing Western technology. “We are looking for a two-way trade as well as cooperation in development, design and engineering,” Iran’s minister of industry, mines and trade Mohammad Reza Nematzadeh told a conference in Vienna. “We are no longer interested in a unidirectional importation of goods and machinery from Europe.”

Even in the past couple of weeks we have approved more than $2 billion of projects in Iran by European companies

Iranian minister Mohammad Khazaei

The United Nations Security Council on Monday endorsed a deal to end years of economic sanctions on Iran in return for curbs on its nuclear program. Sanctions are unlikely to be removed until next year, as the deal requires approval by the U.S. Congress, where it is opposed by Republicans who say it is too generous to Tehran. US Secretary of State John Kerry will face tough questioning when he appears at a Senate committee today. “Iran is a terror-sponsoring anti-American regime,” said Tom Cotton, a Republican senator from Arkansas. “This deal is going to give tens of billions of dollars - at a minimum - without doing anything to rein in their support for terror or their support for America’s enemies.”

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