Turkish, S. Korean firms to ink petrochemical deals with Iran

TEHRAN,July 2(MNA) - A Turkish company and a South Korean company will sign deals with Iranian companies to expand production units at Iran’s Mahshahr Petrochemical Company. The deals will be signed tomorrow. The report has not revealed names of the companies. On May 31, the United States blacklisted eight companies in Iran's petrochemical industry as Washington strives to force Tehran retreat from its nuclear ambitions. Petrochemical companies owned or controlled by the Iranian government that are on the Treasury Department list include Bandar Imam Petrochemical Co, Bou Ali Sina Petrochemical Co and Mobin Petrochemical Co. The United States and Western powers have imposed a series of economic sanctions aimed at pressuring Iran into halting its uranium enrichment plan. Despite the sanctions, Iranian petrochemical products are being exported even to European countries, National Iranian Petrochemical Company Abdolhossein Bayat has said. Bayat said since the past eight years, the country's annual petrochemical output has been increased by 38 million tons, he added. The output will surpass 75 million tons by the end of the current Iranian calendar year (March 2014), he noted. Iran exported some $12 billion worth of petrochemical products in the past Iranian calendar year, he added.