Iran's Oil Minister Bijan Zanganeh has discussed development of oil, gas, and petrochemical projects with a high-ranking Italian delegation, saying that European states are showing green light to their companies to cooperate with Iran.

Speaking to reporters following his meeting with an Italian delegation headed by the country’s Foreign Minister Paolo Gentiloni in Tehran on Wednesday, Zanganeh said Iran's oil industry needs cooperation of Italian companies in projects that are underway in the Caspian Sea and for increasing oil recovery from Iranian fields.

Noting that development of cooperation in oil, gas and petrochemical industries has been the main theme of his talks with the Italian delegation, the Iranian minister noted that before imposition of sanctions, “Iran cooperated with Italian companies for the development of various phases of the South Pars gas field as well as some southwestern Iranian oil fields, including Darkhoein.”

He said Italian refineries used Iran's oil before sanctions were imposed on Iran's oil sector and they can restart importing Iran oil once sanctions are removed.

On July 14, Iran and the P5+1 group of countries – the United States, Britain, France, China and Russia plus Germany – finalized the text of an agreement, dubbed the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), in the Austrian capital of Vienna.

Under the JCPOA, Iran has accepted limitations on its nuclear activities in exchange for the removal of all economic and financial sanctions against the Islamic Republic.

Zanganeh further noted that before sanctions, Italian companies were major partners for Iran's petrochemical firms and played an important role in the construction of petrochemical plants, technology transfer and financing petrochemical projects in Iran.

The Iranian oil minister added that production of needed equipment for Iranian oil industry was another major topic of his talks with Italian delegation, emphasizing that “such equipment will not only be used in the Iranian market, but will also meet the needs of other markets in the region.”

The Italian foreign minister, for his part, told reporters that Tehran and Rome are set to expand their relations in all economic sectors.

He added that following the conclusion of talks on Iran's nuclear program in Vienna, the way has been paved for a new era of cooperation to begin between the two countries.

Gentiloni stated that his country is interested in cooperation with Iran in various fields of oil, gas and petrochemical industries and is also ready to produce oil industry equipment for use in Iran and other regional countries.