The recent comprehensive agreement over Iran’s nuclear program will enable the country to engage more actively in trade, especially in the area of oil and gas. This will surely include neighboring Armenia and beyond, Mr Esfandiar Maasoumi, Distinguished Professor at Emory University (Atlanta, USA), told Armenia News – NEWS.am. This will still be the case even if the agreement does not get approved by the US congress, he added.

But, in general, the global politics is entering a stage of a greater polarization. “I predict that there will be substantial head winds for closer relations between Iran and the US. The latter is turning quite conservative, and this will accelerate after President Obama”, he said.

“While this is generally not good for trade and economic progress, it may suggest the possibility of closer cooperation in the region to the North of Iran!”, the expert underscored.

There is a prospect for a possible economic bonanza if the Europeans get to enter into the Iranian market. This is merely a prospect right now, but it might have been the main driving force for European negotiators in the P5+1 format, he told. “In following all the wrangling to come, one needs to follow the money! People will be jockeying for a greater share of the trade with Iran”, Mr Maassoumi concluded.

To remind, in line with the agreement, reached in Vienna on July 14 between Iran and six world powers (P5 + 1 format), Iran is supposed to drastically reduce the stock of low-enriched uranium, as well as dismantle some key nuclear facilities, such as heavy water reactor in Arak and Fordow underground enrichment plant. In return, the EU and the US will lift oil embargo and other trading limitations, as well as allow Iran to access to Swift electronic banking system.