Iran has signed a contract worth more than $615 million with Spain’s Tubacex.
The deal is for corrosion resistant alloy (CRA) pipes for Iran’s oil industry.
The contract was signed with the Foolad Isfahan company, which will take over production of the pipes completely within three years, local media reported.
The deal will lead to the production of 600 kilometers of pipe.
Iranian oil minister Bijan Zanganeh said CRA pipes were extremely difficult to obtain while sanctions were still in place. An agreement between Iran and Western powers led to a number of sanctions being lifted in January 2016 in exchange for curbs on the country’s nuclear programme.
Zanganeh said: “If sanctions were still in place we would not have been able to sign such a deal.”
Anton Azlor, a Tubacex director, said the deal had taken approximately a year and half to negotiate and that the company is interested in doing more work in Iran.
Zanganeh said that the signing of the deal had been delayed until after Iran’s presidential election so that the oil ministry would not be accused of trying to sway the results.
Iranian president Hassan Rouhani was re-elected on Friday with 57 percent of the vote.