Kolkata: Negating predictions by trade experts that political instability could mean a non-sustainable economy in Iran, the Middle Eastern country today (Feb 14, 2004) announced a slew of "encouraging" business deals with India in oil, automobiles, textile, mining and electronic goods sectors.

Sounding upbeat on revival "old world" business ties with India, Ambassador of the Islamic Republic of Iran in India S Z Yaghoubi said reciprocal visits by premiers of both countries Atal Behari Vajpayee and Mohammad Khatami had given shape to the 'Tehran Declaration' paving the way for a roadmap for strategic cooperation in other key areas like energy, defence, hi-tech, transit and transportation.

"Though India sided with the Western camp after the cold war, it somehow remained loyal to the Eastern camp also. After a long gap, there has been a substantial change in relations between India and Iran in the last five years," Yaghoubi said during an interactive session with members of the Bengal Club.

Pointing out that Iran, the second largest gas reservoir of the world, exported LNG worth over a billion Dollars every year and the sector was growing at the rate of eight per cent annually in India, he said it was one of the key areas of cooperation to be exploited in future.

Yaghoubi said the recent rapprochement between Iran and Pakistan had also raised hopes for a strategic decision on laying pipelines that could immediately benefit India, for which Iran was the nearest oil source.