VP stresses Iran\'s investment security

\"Iran is one of the most secure and independent countries for investment in the oil and gas industries,\" Rahimi said today, addressing the inauguration ceremony of the 17th International Oil, Gas, Refining and Petrochemical Exhibition in Tehran. He also reiterated that Iran\'s oil and gas reserves enjoy the highest global value since the country is in possession of 11% of the world\'s oil and 17% of gas reserves, and added that everyone knows that Iran will be one of the largest world energy suppliers in future which can feed its own and other states\' different industries for several decades. Iran, which sits on the world\'s second largest reserves of both oil and gas, is facing western sanctions over its civilian nuclear program. Iranian officials have dismissed US sanctions as inefficient, saying that they are finding Asian partners instead. A large number of Chinese, Indian and other Asian firms have negotiated or signed up to oil and gas deals with Iran. Following US pressures on companies to stop business with Tehran, many western companies decided to do a balancing act. They tried to maintain their presence in Iran, which is rich in oil and gas, but not getting into big deals that could endanger their interests in the US. Yet, after oil giants in the West witnessed that their absence in big deals has provided Chinese, Indian and Russian companies with excellent opportunities to sign up to an increasing number of energy projects and earn billions of dollars, they started showing increasing interest to invest or expand work in Iran.