Iran Business Event Seeks to Tap Post-Trump Investor Interest

A conference aimed at European investors who want to tap Iranian markets if US sanctions are again lifted will take place next month. The Europe-Iran Business Forum, which is funded by the European Union, will runs Dec. 14-16 and will be the first of its kind in two years, according to a statement by its organizers. International conferences on Iran’s economy, trade and banking sectors had surged following the 2015 nuclear deal between Iran, the US, European Union, Russia and China, but they virtually disappeared after President Donald Trump pulled the US out of the accord in 2018 and renewed a crippling sanctions regime on the Islamic Republic.

President-elect Joe Biden has pledged to return the US to the Iran accord, which was brokered by the Obama administration when he was vice president. He’s said that he wants Iran to return to full compliance to the deal in exchange for the US doing the same and lifting sanctions.

The investment conference is being run by the U.N.’s International Trade Center -- an agency jointly managed by the United Nations and the World Trade Organization -- and the Iran Trade Promotion Organization.

The Milan-based European House-Ambrosetti is also supporting the event, which will be hosted on the company’s online conference platform, the statement said. - Bloomberg