The prospect of oil giant Iran opening up for business in the coming months might not on the face of it seem like good news for Scotland's oil capital, Aberdeen, but that's not how the Scottish National Party's Alex Salmond sees things.
"This is not just a good opportunity," he told an audience at a BBC debate on the fringe of the SNP conference in Aberdeen.
"It's an unambiguously a great one. Scotland has much to offer. Benefits can flow both directions."
Under the terms of a July 14 nuclear deal between Iran and P5+1, once Tehran delivers on its commitments the European Union and the US will end sanctions on Iran's trade, financial and energy sectors.
It is expected that this will happen sometime early next year.
Within months Iran will be producing about 500,000 barrels of oil a day, and $100 billion of Iranian government funds, currently frozen in overseas bank accounts, will be freed up to spend in key sectors such as petrochemicals, oil and gas, mining and construction.
Scottish engineers were heavily involved in prospecting for oil in Iran and developing the oil industry there in the early 20th century.
But future ties between the two countries may go beyond oil.
Salmond said he was taking a delegation of Scottish business leaders to Tehran shortly to promote cooperation in agricultural technology among other areas.
Scottish companies are also looking for openings in the fields of education, digital technology and gaming.
According to Salmond, Scottish expertise in digitally mapping archaeological sites could one day be of interest to Iran.
Also taking part in the BBC event were a number of UK businesspeople, with long experience of working in Iran. All agreed that exporting know-how would be a key component of future business ties with Iranian companies.
Paddy Collins is the chief executive of Aubin Group, based near Aberdeen, which supplies chemicals to the oil and gas industry.
"Iranians know what's going on and what technology they want and need," he said. "You've got a huge workforce of highly educated people who can easily be trained up."
"The key thing is transfer of technology, Iranians want that with every major project," said Nigel Coulthard, another Iran veteran, who is president of Franco-Iranian economic exchange group Cercle Iran Economie.
Iran says it wants to invest some $185bn in developing its oil and gas resources over the next decade, most of which will have to come from international oil giants.
Salmond said: "The oil industry here is an international one. The ability of Scottish-based companies depends on international prospects."
If Scottish companies do succeed in capturing new markets in Iran, they will be doing so from very modest beginnings.