Spanish businessmen ranked the first in the list of main foreign investors in Iran during the period from December 2015 to December 2016.
Spanish investments amounted to $3.2 billion in the reported period. The runner-up was Germany with investments standing at $2.9 billion.
However, Spanish investments were directed to the implementation of one project, while German investors allocated funds for the implementation of 17 projects.
The total foreign direct investments (FDI) in Iran's economy stood at $11.8 billion within the framework of 113 projects.
Iran's Oil Minister Bijan Namdar Zanganeh earlier said that the largest amount of investment, to the tune of some $200 billion, is required in the oil industry which includes $130 billion in the upstream segment.
Iranian authorities have adopted a comprehensive strategy encompassing market-based reforms as reflected in the government's 20-Year Vision document and the sixth five-year development plan.
Real GDP growth is projected to reach 4.8 percent in 2017 due to the lifting of the sanctions and a more business-oriented environment, according to the World Bank.
Iran has struck a series of deals with foreign energy groups in recent weeks, including Total and Shell, and plans to award more contracts early in 2017 as Tehran's efforts to attract much-needed foreign investment gather pace.
Iran has the world's second-largest gas reserves and fourth-largest oil reserves, according to the US Energy Information Administration, but urgently needs outside capital and expertise to modernize its aging infrastructure.
The country aims to attract $200 billion in oil and gas investment over the next five years, after the 2015 agreement with the world's major powers to modify its nuclear program which led to the removal of international sanctions.
Total of France became the first Western oil major to make a renewed commitment when it signed a deal in November to develop the next phase of Iran's giant South Pars Gas Field together with China National Petroleum Corp.
UK-listed Shell followed earlier last month with a more tentative agreement for studies of the Azadegan and Yadavaran oilfields in southwest Iran as well as Kish gas fields in Persian Gulf.
Other companies to have struck agreements with Tehran last year include Gazprom, Rosneft and Lukoil of Russia, ONGC of India and DNO of Norway.
Iran has said dozens more applied to take part in a licensing round for up to 50 exploration and production blocs due to take place early in 2017.
Jason Rosychuk, a Dubai-based oil and gas specialist at Pinsent Masons, the law firm, said that, after a slow start, Tehran's investment drive was gaining momentum.
"The level of interest is high," he said. "All companies are taking a look."
Mines, industry sector
Iran's Minister of Industry, Mine and Trade Mohammadreza Nematzadeh said the incumbent government has so far attracted over $8.5 billion in foreign investment only in the mines and industries sector.
He highlighted that the investment was channeled for implementing 170 industrial and mineral projects of which 80 have come on stream.
"The implementation of JCPOA facilitated attraction of foreign investment over the past year," stressed Nematzadeh recalling that over $5.5 billion of the overall investment were made following the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA).
The minister further pointed to the need to publicize investment capacities in Iran's mines and industries sector abroad since "foreign investors are not familiar with the country's potentials due a hiatus in ties as well as adverse propaganda".
