"The talks have been held to remove the financial obstacles and in the near future relations with Hermes will be normalized," Khazaei made the remarks during the Iran-Germany Joint Economic Commission’s meeting in Tehran, Trend News Agency reported.

150 German officials and businessmen are participating in the joint economic commission meeting underway in Tehran.

German Federal Ministry of Economic Affairs and Energy Uwe Beckmeyer, who heads the German delegation, said German Economic Minister Sigmar Gabriel has sent letters to the country’s banks, encouraging them to expand cooperation with Iran.

Uwe Beckmeyer added “I will use this opportunity presented to us due to the lifting of sanctions to call on German banks to make the most of developing ties and cooperation with Iranian banks.”

He expressed hope that the guarantee offered by Hermes insurance company will encourage German banks to expedite their efforts in reactivating banking relations with Iran.

German Economy Minister Sigmar Gabriel was scheduled to visit Tehran on Monday, but the visit was later postponed due to the official's health issues.

Iran's Minister of Economic Affairs and Finance Ali Tayyebnia in a phone conversation with Sigmar Gabriel on Monday called for boosting of all-out ties.

Gabriel apologized for postponement of the visit, expressing hope that he would visit Iran and hold the joint economic commission meeting in a near future.

He said Germany is willing to promote ties with Iran.

Meanwhile, several memoranda of understanding were signed between the two sides during the meeting.

The meeting, the first in 15 years, was scheduled for May 2-4. The two countries' last joint economic meeting was held in 2001.

President Park was accorded an official welcome in Tehran on Monday on the first day of her three-day visit, heading South Korea's biggest-ever traveling business delegation of over 230 executives, Press TV reported.

The two presidents then sat for their first meeting since the establishment of diplomatic relations between the two countries in 1962.

Iranian and South Korean officials also signed 19 memorandums of understanding, IRNA reported.

Cabinet ministers and senior officials from the two countries signed the documents as part of efforts to boost the relations between Tehran and Seoul.

The deals are meant to boost bilateral collaborations in a range of fields, from maritime transportation to cultural and academic issues.

An extradition treaty was among the agreements signed in the ceremony.

Other MoUs were on cooperation in the oil, gas and petrochemical industry, management of water resources, technological interaction, medical fields and banking ties.

Peace on Korean Peninsula

Later in a joint news conference, Rouhani called for peace on the Korean Peninsula, saying Iran is opposed to the manufacturing of weapons of mass destruction of any kind.

He said Iran and South Korea are set to boost their trade volume from the current six billion dollars to $30 billion.

President Park called for further expansion of ties between Iran and South Korea in industrial, trade and cultural sectors.

South Korea has said it is eager to participate in Iran’s development projects and expand economic cooperation on communication technology, information, healthcare and culture.

South Korea has been a major importer of Iran’s crude oil. On Sunday, Minister of Petroleum Bijan Zanganeh said Iran's oil exports to South Korea have more than quadrupled to 400,000 barrels a day since sanctions were lifted in January.

Iran, whose exports to South Korea were less than 100,000 barrels a day before sanctions were lifted, has since worked to quickly boost its output. It has focused on selling to its traditional customers in Asia, but has also shipped cargoes to Europe.

Zanganeh also said Iran and South Korea were working to resolve difficulties in transferring payments for the oil sales.

World leaders have been visiting Tehran after the implementation of the nuclear agreement, dubbed the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), between Iran and the P5+1 group of countries in July 2015.

In a message on his Instagram account on Sunday, President Rouhani said Iran is open to foreign investment.

"Our economy will not get well unless we are able to attract investment," he said.

"Today, these conditions have been provided and the leaders which travel to Iran bring with them representatives of scores of important trading companies," Rouhani added.

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South Korean President Park Geun-hye arrived in Tehran in the first such high-level visit since the two nations established diplomatic ties in 1962.

The visit is aimed at strengthening all-out relations between the two countries.

Park landed in Mehrabad Airport on Sunday for a three-day official visit together with representatives from some 236 South Korean companies and organizations. She was welcomed by Iran's Industry, Mines and Trade Minister Mohammad Reza Nematzadeh, Press TV reported.

The South Korean president will meet with President Hasan Rouhani  today.

The two presidents are expected to discuss a wide range of issues, from energy and infrastructure to developments in the Middle East and the Korean Peninsula. The two sides will reportedly seal deals worth over €10bn. 

South Korea is eager to participate in Iran’s development projects and expand economic cooperation to communication technology, information, healthcare and culture.

This comes in a series of visits by world leaders to Tehran after the implementation of a last year nuclear agreement between Iran and world powers.

South Korea has been a major importer of Iran’s crude oil. It sharply increased its crude oil purchase from Iran after the sanctions were removed.

Iran’s Petroleum Minister Bijan Zanganeh said on Sunday the country has more than quadrupled its oil exports to South Korea following the removal of sanctions five months ago.

Zanganeh said that oil exports to South Korea have increased to 400,000 barrels per day (bpd) from less than 100,000 bpd prior to the lifting of anti-Iran sanctions in January.

He added, however, that Iran is still facing banking troubles for the transfer of its cash from the Southeast Asian country, noting that Tehran and Seoul are working to resolve the problems.

The Iranian oil minister made the comments after a meeting with the visiting South Korean Minister of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, Kang Ho-in in Tehran.

During the meeting, Iran also signed Memorandum of Understanding with South Korea to export gas to the East Asian country as well as cooperation in gas projects.

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A technical team of CMI of China visited Chabahar in Iran’s southeastern province of Sistan-Baluchestan on Tuesday for the launch of the Chinese industrial town project, according to IRNA.

An Iranian official at the Chabahar Free Trade Zone told the news agency that the trip follows CMI managers’ last year visit to Iran where the two sides inked a memorandum of understanding (MoU) on the construction of an industrial town there.

The official said the Chinese have already decided on a location for the project and that they will be developing the free-trade zone into a mega port through phased construction.

Chabahar Free Trade Zone is on the coast of the Gulf of Oman. It is the closest point of Iran to the Indian Ocean and Iran has devised serious plans to turn it into a transit hub for immediate access to markets in the northern parts of the Indian Ocean and Central Asia.

The exact scope of China's planned investment in Chabahar is unclear yet as the port is largely planned to be developed through a much-awaited effort by India.

Back in 2014, Iran and India signed an MoU to jointly develop the port and both sides agreed to allow New Delhi to lease two docks at the port for a period of 10 years - a move meant to cut India's crude oil and urea transportation costs by around 30 percent.

India is also relying on the prospects of establishing rail links from Chabahar to Afghanistan and thereon to Central Asia.

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He made the remarks during his inspection tour of Iran airport and aviation facilities in Tehran on Sunday.

“UK is ready to transfer airport and aviation know-how to Iran and help Tehran to develop its passenger terminals,” the official added.

“UK companies are ready for scientific and industrial cooperation with their Iranian counterparts,” Goodwill noted.

Deputy Head of Iranian Airports Companies for Planning and Control Gholam Hossein Baqerian welcomed UK investment in Iranian airports, saying that airports in Isfahan, Mashhad, Tabriz, Bushehr, and Ahvaz are on the agenda for development.

A delegation headed by the British minister comprising 13 companies active in the field of transportation arrived in Iran on Saturday.

British Business Minister Sajid Javid is also scheduled to visit Tehran in May to discuss trade and economic ties.

Last month Javid hailed the opportunities in the Iranian market and described the Islamic Republic as one of the world's emerging markets.

According to government estimates, the current oil export stood at 1.7 million bpd crudes including light and heavy oil at the current prices amounted to $21 billion this year.
The figure stood at $12 billion before the implementation of Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA).
Based on the statistics available, Iran exported 2.3 million barrels in pre-sanctions which declined to one million bpd following the sanctions. 
According to Petroleum Minister Bijan Zanganeh, crude and gas condensate exports have now hit two million bpd.
Europe has joined the ranks of Iranian crude buyers. Iran planned to boost crude oil output.
Before the sanctions, Iran used to export 30 percent of crude oil to the European states.

The announcement has been made by Mehdi Sanaei, Iran’s ambassador to Moscow, who was speaking to students in St. Petersburg on Friday, as reported by Iran’s IRNA news agency.

"Yes, this issue is under study", said Sanaei in response to a question regarding the possibility of creating a canal through which ships would travel between the Caspian Sea and the Persian Gulf.  However, he did not provide any details.

Meanwhile, Iran’s Embassy in Moscow in a statement has rejected speculations that Iran has already started negotiations with Russia over the ambitious project.

A canal to link the two seas will need to cover a distance of at least 1,000 kilometers and will required several billion dollars. There are also several key technical challenges including the rough terrain conditions in the mountains of the north as well as the central deserts.  

Also on Thursday, Russia, Azerbaijan and Iran agreed to speed up the talks on a North-South transport corridor, RT.com has quoted the Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov as saying. Part of it will go along the western coast of the Caspian Sea from Russia to Iran through Azerbaijan.

The North-South corridor, when built, is expected to significantly reduce the time of cargo transport from India to Central Asia and Russia. At present, it takes about 40 days to ship goods from Mumbai in India to Moscow. The new route will be able to cut this time to 14 days, RT added.

The corridor will also bypass the overloaded and expensive Suez Canal.  

At the ninth joint consular meeting of foreign ministries of Iran and Japan in Tokyo, diplomats from the two countries weighed plans to strengthen relations between the two nations, Tasnim News Agency reported.

They also stressed the need for measures to facilitate travel conditions for the merchants, investors, tourists and students.

The meeting came against the backdrop of a new wave of interest in ties with Iran after the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), a lasting nuclear deal between Tehran and the P5+1 (Russia, China, the US, Britain, France and Germany) took effect in January.

According to Japanese media, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe is likely to visit Iran in late August, a first trip by a Japanese leader in 38 years.

The Japanese premier intends to take the initiative to strengthen economic ties between Japan and Iran.

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