Iran Touts Russia's Plan to Invest in Its Oil With Sanctions Looming - Bloomberg

Iran Touts Russia's Plan to Invest in Its Oil With Sanctions Looming - Bloomberg:

Iran said Russia is ready to invest as much as $50 billion in its oil industry even as Western majors are pulling out of deals with the republic amid the threat of U.S. sanctions.

President Vladimir Putin has confirmed the spending plan, with at least three deals worth some $15 billion already on the table, Ali Akbar Velayati, foreign policy adviser to Iran’s supreme leader, said in Moscow Friday. Russia is ready to invest in crude exploration and production, as well as refining, he said.

Iranian news agencies published similar comments from Velayati on Thursday, following his meeting then with President Putin in the Russian capital. Russian companies that have been in talks with Iran on joint hydrocarbon projects wouldn’t comment on the outcome when contacted by Bloomberg. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov also declined to comment on Velayati’s statements.