Foreign companies wishing to return to Iran after a likely reentry of the United States into the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (the formal name of Iran’s nuclear deal signed with world powers in 2015) need the green light of the Iranian Parliament, the chairman of Majlis Industries and Mines Commission said.
"In view of some foreign companies’ failure to uphold their commitments, Majlis needs to approve and be notified of any deal [with those companies],” Ezzatollah Akbari was also quoted as saying by IRIB News.
Any comeback of home appliance brands (in an apparent reference to South Korean brands LG and Samsung], carmakers, etc. will be contingent upon their joint investment with Iran and transfer of knowledge and technology aimed at boosting domestic production, he added.
His remarks came after Government Spokesman Ali Rabiei said a few months ago that Iran expects foreign companies to return if sanctions are lifted by US President Joe Biden, although some have already made preliminary contacts.
Major foreign companies left Iran after former US president, Donald Trump, abandoned Iran’s nuclear deal in 2018 and restored economic sanctions.
Washington also blacklisted dozens of foreign companies accused of cooperating with Iran.
“Recently, contacts about opening offices and the presence of foreign companies in Iran have increased,” Rabiei told a news conference streamed live on a government website.
Rabiei said companies, which did not leave Iran despite sanctions, could be given more opportunities in the future. He did not name any firm.
“Some are considering reopening offices, but some companies ... never closed down completely. These companies will definitely have more opportunities to operate,” Rabiei said.
“Certainly, with the ... lifting of the oppressive sanctions and the absence of Trump, the presence of foreign companies and a willingness to invest in Iran will increase.”
Biden has pledged to rejoin the nuclear accord, agreed by Washington when he was vice president, if Iran also returns to compliance.
But according to Reuters, diplomats and analysts have said this was unlikely to happen overnight, as the distrustful adversaries demand the other party take the first step.
Currently, Iran is in talks with the other signatories of JCPOA in Vienna, Austria, for the US reentry into the deal and the lifting of sanctions.
Businesses of all types, ranging from insurance companies to car manufacturers to shipping companies, had announced the cessation of business with Iran because of US sanctions.
Exiting Companies
A Forbes list of some of the larger companies that announced exits include:
- Total – The French oil company, Total SA, announced its pullout of the billion-dollar deal it made with both Iran and the Chinese company CNPC. The partnership was to develop the South Pars natural gas field’s Phase 11 in Iran. Total was the only major international oil company to sign with Iran since the old sanctions ended in January 2016. It had a 30% stake in the gas field, which Iran now intends to give to CNPC.
- Maersk – The shipping company A.P. Moller-Maersk announced it would no longer ship Iranian oil due to the US sanctions. In a statement, the company was clear that it prioritized its business with the US over business in Iran.
- Peugeot – The car manufacturer, owned by PSA Group, also pulled out of Iran. In addition to selling cars in Iran, the company had signed agreements with Iran Khodro Industrial Group to manufacture Peugeot cars in Iran and with SAIPA to build Citroen vehicles in Iran.
- GE – General Electric and its subsidiary, Baker Hughes, had made a combined revenue of almost $25 million from contracts with Iran after the implementation of JCPOA in 2016. These included deals with MAPNA, an Iranian conglomerate, and contracts to provide pipelines, valves and other oil and gas infrastructure products to Iranian companies. GE and Baker Hughes ceased operations in Iran in accordance with the US law.
- Honeywell – Honeywell International Inc., a technology company, had, according to the Wall Street Journal, over $110 million in revenue from Iran after 2016. It declared its pullout of the country. A Honeywell subsidiary had also obtained a contract to upgrade the monitoring and control technology at Iran’s Tabriz Petrochemical Company.
- Boeing – Boeing, which had a high profile $20 billion contract for airplanes with IranAir and Iran Aseman Airlines, announced it would not be delivering the planes to Iran in light of the new sanctions. The company could have applied for a waiver from the US government, but it announced on June 6 that it would cancel the contract instead.
- Lukoil – The second largest Russian oil company was dubbed one of “the favorites” to develop oilfields in Iran. But the company decided at the end of May that it would no longer pursue any joint ventures with Iranian oil companies due to the impending US sanctions.
- Reliance – Reliance Industries Ltd., an Indian company that owns the world’s largest oil-refining complex, announced on May 30 that it would no longer accept crude oil imports from Iran. Because crude oil imports are contracted months in advance, Reliance will cease importing Iranian oil in October or November.
- Dover – Dover Corp., which manufactures pumps and other products used in the oil industry, first signed contracts with Iran in 2017. It also announced plans to end all business with Iran in accordance with sanctions.
- Siemens – Siemens Corporation, which manufactures a variety of healthcare, industry, energy and automobile products and had a long history of cooperation, said it would wind down its business interests in Iran.
