October 3, The Iran Project - Head of Iran Chamber of Commerce, Industries and Mines Gholam Hossein Shafei says because of its geographical position, Iran can connect East and West Asia with Central Asia and expand trade ties with Germany.

Having a strong and stable position in the region, Iran can facilitate the relations of neighboring and CIS countries with Germany, said Gholam Hossein Shafei, head of Iran’s chamber of Commerce in Iran-Germany business forum on Monday.

Shafei stressed that Iran is among the world's 20 largest economies and second largest economy in the Middle East, adding it enjoys young and educated workforce, developed infrastructure and extensive natural resources.

Saying Iran has the largest natural gas reserves and is the world's fourth largest oil reserves, the Iranian official reiterated that all these factors are competitive advantages for cooperating with Iranian companies.

He also referred to the long history of Iran-Germany close relations, adding that in the past decade the two countries’ relations were not proper enough but after the removal of sanctions, they will expand their ties in different areas.

Head of Iran Chamber of Commerce expressed hope that by removing the obstacles to banking operations and the development of appropriate financial instruments, Iran and Germany’s companies can further develop the relations between the private sectors of the two countries.

Iran-Germany business forum started this morning with the participation of a 160-economic delegation headed by Germany’s Vice Chancellor and Economy Minister Sigmar Sigmar Gabriel in Iran chamber of commerce.

Meanwhile, Head of the Judiciary Ayatollah Sadeq Amoli Larijani  has said German envoy should have been denied admittance to country for country’s human rights remarks.

He strongly criticized recent remarks by German minister of trade and economic affairs who conditioned development of ties with Iran on Iran’s recognition of Israeli regime. “This position is highly unacceptable from a European official, while they had well understood Iran’s official line of policy which rested upon promoting resistance against Zionism, and conditioning of the betterment of relations on such act to which Iran would at best lampoon is far from diplomatic code of conduct,” Larijani added.