Martin Johnson, who heads a high-ranking British commercial-investment delegation of 24 members, told the reporters that the British are getting prepared for post-sanctions relation with Tehran.
Johnson, the Director General of the British-Iranian Chamber of Commerce, maintained that years of political tension between Tehran and London has affected the trade between the two countries.
"We decided to form a delegation to visit Tehran and get familiar with the Iranian huge market as a step toward strengthening the ties between Iran and the UK," said Johnson.
On the agenda of the visit, Johson recounted that the first goal is to “observe, listen, and better understand” as the best starting point.
Responding to the question on why the British are eager for resuming trade with Iran, he said that the anti-Iran sanctions could not be continued any more and hoped for immediate implementation of JCPOA.
Prior to the Western-led sanctions against Iran in 2011, the Iran-Britain trade was more than €623 million, compared to €256 million in 2012, which further fell to €121 million in the same year due to the escalation of sanctions, according to the Eurostat. The figure stood at over €121 million back in 2013.
However, the two-way trade took an ascending trend in 2014 in the wake of the interim nuclear accord reached between Iran and world powers, touching €152 million.
Trade between the two countries amounted to €80 million in the first half of 2015, a 9 percent decrease compared to the same period in 2014.
Last month, British Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond led a diplomatic and trade delegation to re-open the British Embassy in Tehran after nearly four years without diplomatic relations between the two countries.
YNG/ IR81779056