Iranian President Hassan Rouhani announced Tuesday that sanctions against his country will be removed by the end of 2015,
'Sanctions against Iran will be lifted by the end of this year, according to our plans,' he said during his meeting with new Spanish Ambassador to Tehran, Eduardo Lopez Busquets.
However, Iran may have to wait until Dec. 15 when the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) will finalize a report on Iran's nuclear program, the country's past and present nuclear activities and the program's possible military dimensions.
Meanwhile, Tehran expects sanctions to be lifted as soon as possible in order to have foreign investment begin flowing to its domestic industry and energy sector to revive its economy.
So far, officials and trade missions from Germany, Italy, Japan, France, Austria, Spain, Poland, Denmark and Russia have visited Tehran to establish economic relations and invest in Iran's untapped oil and gas resources.
The country has one of the biggest oil and natural gas reserves in the world, and due to the sanctions, those fields remain unexplored.
But, Iran's oil sector is estimated to need more than $250 billion investments during the next decade to bring up production volumes.
'During 2016-2025, our upstream sector needs $176 billion, and the downstream sector needs $77 billion of investment,' Iran's Deputy Managing Director of the National Iranian Oil Company for Investment and Finance Ali Kardor said Tuesday, according to Iran's petro energy information network Shana.
'Average finished price of crude oil in Iran is around $5 per barrel, and does not exceed $10 a barrel. Iran has the cheapest oil produced in the world,' he added.
Production costs from Iran's oil fields are lower compared to most other oil reserves in the world. This is also a major advantage for the country in attracting major international energy companies.
Reporting by Ahmet Dursun
Writing by Ovunc Kutlu
Anadolu Agency
ovunc.kutlu@aa.com.tr