Swedish FM arrives in Iran

Swedish Foreign Minister Carl Bildt arrived in the central city of Isfahan today and is due to travel to Tehran on Tuesday, a source in the Iranian foreign ministry said. In the first day of his trip to Iran, the top Swedish diplomat had a tour of the historic city of Isfahan's tourism attractions and capacities. He is slated to arrive in Tehran tomorrow to have separate meetings with senior Iranian officials over the latest international and regional developments and expansion of bilateral ties between Tehran and Stockholm in all sectors. Last week, Iranian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Marziyeh Afkham had announced that the Swedish foreign minister would pay a visit to Iran in the near future. Last Monday, a visiting delegation from Sweden’s banking sector announced that the country’s private sector is ready to return to Iran to resume investment in its lucrative market in the near future. The Swedish delegation made the remarks during a meeting with Iranian Deputy Economy Minister Shapour Mohammadi. The Swedish delegates also invited the Iranian Deputy Economy Minister for a visit to Sweden and expressed hope that they would be hosting an Iranian delegation soon. Mohammadi referred to the nuclear deal between Iran and the Group 5+1 (the five permanent UN Security Council members plus Germany) and said the two Iranian-Swedish nations historically had very good relations but the Geneva agreement has made possible a further and stronger expansion of economic and trade relations between the two sides. Mohammadi highlighted Sweden’s auto industry and Hi-tech sectors as the most attractive for the Islamic Republic for further cooperation, adding that the Iranian auto industry is also one of the biggest and most rapidly expanding local markets, accounting for approximately 8 percent of Iran’s GDP at the moment. Meanwhile, the head of Swedish delegation expressed the willingness of his country’s banks and industry to return to the Iranian market thanks to the recent breakthrough in Iran’s relations with the West. “From our point of view, Iran has always been one of the most reliable countries in payments and the problems occurred over the last year or two will not leave serious marks on our bilateral relations,” he noted.