Iran needs 8 billion euros to invest on petrochemical each year: official

Iran needs eight billion euros to invest on its petrochemical sector each year, the head of Iranian National Petrochemical Company said on Sunday.

"Currently, 2.7 to three billion euros are invested on the development of petrochemical projects annually, but we must attract eight billion euros a year," Abbas Sheri-Moqaddam was quoted as saying by official IRNA news agency.

Iran should take advantage of its 60-million-ton production capacity in the petrochemical industry, he said, adding that but the country is just using two-thirds of its production capacity.

Many petrochemical projects have been abandoned due to the western sanctions in recent years, he said.

If the western sanctions had not been imposed against our country, Iran would have increased its petrochemical capacity to 120 million tons, he added.

In accordance with the Iranian government policy on rapid development of the petrochemical industry, many steps were taken in the past years to attract foreign investments on the industry, but western sanctions on the sector, which was initiated by the United States in May 2013, hindered the progress.

The West alleges that Tehran's controversial nuclear program might have weapon-grade dimensions, which Tehran has vehemently dismissed. Endit