France's Orange Says in Talks with Iran on Cooperation
TEHRAN (Tasnim) – French telecoms operator Orange is in talks with Mobile Telecommunication Company of Iran (MCI) over potential cooperation, an official with the corporation said.
"We anticipate that these discussions will be concluded within a few months," a spokesman of Orange said in a statement, Reuters reported.
The statement did not elaborate on what those areas of cooperation could be. However, reports suggest that Orange has entered preliminary talks to buy a stake in MCI, as well as on a commercial and technical agreement.
"We are conducting feasibility studies to understand and assess what is possible in this complex environment, particularly with regards to certain economic sanctions that continue to apply to Iran,” the spokesman added.
"Like many other international operators, Orange has been considering opportunities in the Iranian market subsequent to the implementation of the JCPOA,” he said, referring to a nuclear deal between Iran and world powers.
The French government controls 23 percent of the shares of Orange.
International interest in ties with Iran has been growing since Tehran and the Group 5+1 (Russia, China, the US, Britain, France and Germany) on July 14, 2015 finalized the comprehensive nuclear deal and started implementing it on January 16.
The agreement, known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), terminated all nuclear-related sanctions imposed on Iran.