German Transport Minister Alexander Dobrindt is scheduled to pay an official visit to Tehran this week to hold talks with senior Iranian officials.
Dobrindt will lead a trade delegation to the Iranian capital on Friday to sit down with his Iranian counterpart Abbas Akhoundi, Reuters reported.
It added that senior officials of the country’s engineering giant Siemens would accompany the German minister on his trip to Iran to discuss a major deal with the Islamic Republic to develop the country’s railway system, an industry source said.
Siemens has long been in negotiations with Iran over an order for track technology and ICE 3 trains, a model of intercity train in use in Germany. The deal would be worth more than 2 billion euros ($2.25 billion).
German Economy Minister Sigmar Gabriel traveled to Iran at the start of the month and during that trip Siemens got an order to build parts for 50 locomotives.
Earlier, Siegfried Russwurm, a member of the managing board of Siemens AG, said the new era has opened a new chapter for Iran and Germany’s business people to promote cooperation.
He hailed the coming into force of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), a final nuclear deal between Iran and the Group 5+1 (Russia, China, the US, Britain, France and Germany).
Russwurm also noted that Germany is in competition with other countries for a share of investment in Iran.
There has been growing enthusiasm for closer ties with Iran after implementation of the nuclear accord on January 16.
The deal has terminated all nuclear-related sanctions on Iran, reopened the doors of foreign investment to the country’s market, and prepared the ground for a much-anticipated economic boom.