Western powers line up for investment in Iran: Minister

İpek Yezdani - ipek.yezdani@hurriyet.com.tr ISTANBUL

'It wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say European investors have lined up to invest in Iran,'Iranian Economy Minister Ali Tayyebnia (R) told daily Hürriyet in Istanbul.

Iranian Economy Minister Ali Tayyebnia, who conveyed Iranian President Hassan Rouhani’s invitation to President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan during a meeting in Istanbul, has said Iran has been attracting investment requests from the western world amid hopes for a change in its business environment.

“It wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say European investors have lined up to invest in Iran,” the minister told daily Hürriyet in Istanbul, where he came to attend the Standing Committee for Economic and Commercial Cooperation of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (COMCEC).

Iran and the five permanent members of the U.N. Security Council plus Germany have been seeking to strike an outline deal over the country’s nuclear activities. Expectations for better business environment with ease of sanctions imposed on the country have excited investors, Tayyebnia said.

The minister also met with Erdoğan and conveyed Rouhani’s invitation to him.

The two presidents had held a meeting on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly meeting in New York in September and this meeting is expected to be a follow-up to that meeting.