Bloomberg Business: "The nuclear deal changes everything"

The Financial Times published an article headlined "Iran: The oil and gas multibillion-dollar ‘candy store." The agency writes: They did not advertise their presence. But in the days and weeks before Tuesday’s nuclear deal between the west and Iran, many visitors from some of the world’s largest energy groups have come to Tehran. By some accounts, they have done more than exchange business cards. As one senior western executive puts it, few of the industry’s big players can ignore the “candy store” that is Iran. And now it is preparing to throw open a multibillion-dollar shop window of oil and gas projects.

US and EU oil-related sanctions, in place since 2012, has prevented detailed negotiations. But now they are lifted, and serious talks about a return to the country will get under way, with the European majors first, - The Financial Times reports.

The business publication Bloomberg Business writes today that mobile phones in Tehran started beeping and buzzing well before Iran’s nuclear agreement with the West was finalized. They carried an important sentiment that couldn’t wait for the niggling details to be ironed out in the talks between Iran, on one side, and China, France, Germany, Russia, the U.K., and the U.S. on the other. “Congratulations, the agreement is almost signed! Come dine with us for less,” read the text from a local pizzeria. Discounts and special offers accompany the celebration of the end of sanctions.

The nuclear deal changes everything. The West - and most Americans - view a rapprochement with the Islamic Republic with uncertainty and some dread, but in Iran there’s a thirst for reengagement. Ordinary Iranians and even some businesspeople predict the relief from sanctions will be quick. “There’s simply a huge amount of key technology we either don’t have access to or have to pay twice as much for under the table,” says a prominent petrochemical industry figure, who asked not to be named because of security concerns. He says the cash-strapped government has been paying engineering companies with shiploads of oil. “It will be a relief simply getting paid with regular cash.”

Optimism does have its limits, though. Iran’s labor force, while young and highly educated, isn’t well-trained to meet the needs of international companies. Corruption and bureaucratic red tape are endemic. The country’s darkest realities—the heavy-handed role of the Revolutionary Guards across the economy and radicals itching to sabotage the rapprochement - stand as potential spoilers. Because of them Iran was isolated; until they’re pushed out of the political and economical spheres of the country, real growth will be elusive.