Economic Desk

Iran’s recent nuclear agreement has made the country’s market lucrative to foreign competitors and opened new horizons in front of Iran foreign trade.

As more countries eyed joint ventures with Iran, Tehran Stock Exchange (TSE) main index, TEPIX, registered a new record on Saturday.

The TSE's ongoing surge continued as the TEPIX jumped 406 units, standing at 74,090 in the early morning hours of Saturday, IRNA reported.

Iran’s main share index increased by 1344 units on January 16, setting a new record after 18 months of recession.

The recent gains in the Tehran Stock Exchange come against the backdrop of the upcoming announcement of implementation of nuclear deal, after which all nuclear-related anti-Iran sanctions are terminated.

Canada lifts sanctions

Canada was the latest country which has formally lifted anti-Iran sanctions.

On Friday, Canada dropped many of the sanctions it imposed on Iran over the country’s nuclear energy program.

Canadian exporters are welcoming the decision by their government.

Canadian Manufacturers and Exporters president and CEO Jayson Myers said that the restoration of relations with Iran could potentially lead to billions of dollars in contracts for Canadian businesses investing in the country.

"This puts us on a level playing field with other countries that are also reducing their sanctions on Iran," Myers said. "There are some major business opportunities in Iran that Canadian companies are in a great position to be able to take advantage of."

That’s good news for massive Canadian companies such as Bombardier, which stands to benefit from aerospace exports to Iran. Myers said the infrastructure, oil, agricultural, medical and food sectors will also gain from the lifting of sanctions.

The changes implemented on Friday include an end to a broad ban on financial services, imports and exports, The Canadian Press reported.

Foreign Affairs Minister Stephane Dion said he wants to re-open a dialogue with Iran, which effectively ended in 2012 when the former government severed relations, closed Canada’s Embassy in Tehran and expelled Iranian diplomats.

Dion said the easing of sanctions reflects Iran’s compliance with an international agreement over its nuclear program.

 “Canada today lifted some sanctions against Iran in conformity with the agreement concluded by other countries and Iran,” Dion said.

Dion made the announcement on Friday, weeks after the United States and European Union lifted many of their economic sanctions against Iran.

Surge in oil exports

In Iran, the country’s Oil Minister Bijan Zanganeh said on Saturday that Iran's crude oil sales to Europe after the lifting of international sanctions had already reached above 300,000 barrels, according to Shana.

After the July 14 nuclear deal with world powers, Tehran has ordered a 500,000 bpd increase in oil output.

"Based on the contract signed between the National Iranian Oil Co. and France's Total, it was agreed that Total will buy 160,000 bpd of crude oil from Iran to be delivered in Europe," Zanganeh was quoted as saying by Shana, adding that the contract would be finalized on Feb 16.

Zanganeh also said Italy's Eni was interested in buying 100,000 barrels of crude oil from Iran and its representatives would visit Tehran in near future to discuss the contract."

Eni has voiced its interest in one of Iran's fields which will be treated like the agreement reached with Total," he said.

Iran's oil minister said Italian refiner Saras was interested in buying 60,000 to 70,000 barrels of crude oil from Iran.

Iran’s export centers

Also on Saturday, the president of Iran World Trade Center (IWTC), Mohammad Reza Sabzalipur said Iran is going to open export centers in 44 countries.

The target markets have been under study in the past year and now the executive measures for launching the centers are about to begin, he told Trend News Agency.

According to Sabzalipur, IWTC has signed MoUs with World Trade Centers in 19 countries, which concern the launch of trade centers in the countries of respective signatories.

Accordingly, Iran is going to launch trade centers in Russia, Canada, France, Turkey, Qatar, Algeria, Brazil, Venezuela, Kazakhstan, Armenia, Malaysia, Iraq, and Afghanistan for now, after which they will also launch similar centers in Iran, he further noted.