Mitsubishi Fuso Truck and Bus Corporation has become the first Japanese automaker to announce that it will do business with Iran since the economic sanctions on the country were lifted on Jan. 16. The company said on Tuesday it will start exporting light-duty trucks this year and signed a contract with a Dubai-based firm that will be its distributor in Iran, according to NHK. Iran is one of the largest automobile markets in the Middle East, with annual new car sales of around one million units. More than 30,000 trucks are said to have been sold in 2010 before the tough sanctions were imposed. Mitsubishi Fuso expects demand for commercial vehicles to grow in Iran. Japanese automakers used to export vehicles to Iran or operated assembly plants there. But the firms almost completely withdrew from the country after western nations and Japan imposed the sanctions over Iran's nuclear development.
