Xinhua Net, BEIJING, on April 26, according to foreign media reports, Iran could face further sanctions. Iran's state television released on the 26th that Iran was reducing the number of procedural red tape and relaxing restrictions on corporate equity, in order to encourage foreign investment in the country's stocks and bonds.
Iran's Press TV quoted the official saying that Iran had established a new policy to promote investment in the country's capital market activities. The new policy removed restrictions on capital leaving the country, while the upper limit of foreign investors’ equity ratio of enterprises in the country had been raised from 10% to 20%.
Analysts say Iran needs foreign capital to help upgrade and expand its vital oil industry. Because of Iran’s long-term nuclear dispute against the West, Western companies began to be reluctant to invest in Iran.
Just one day ago, Iran's foreign minister rejected the action that the West wants to increase sanctions against Iran. Mottaki said: "It is the wrong move to impose sanctions because the punishing does a country of not making any mistakes is equivalent to lowering the prestige of the UN Security Council."
On the same day, Mottaki held talks with the International Atomic Energy Agency Director-General to discuss the issue of the stalled nuclear fuel exchange agreements, but the talks made no progress.
The nuclear fuel treaty which has been proposed for a few months requires Iran to transport 1,200 kilograms of low enriched uranium to Russia and France. And after it is difficult to be processed into reactor fuel for nuclear weapons, it will be shipped back to Iran. However, the Iranian government said they could not accept the program. Iran hoped to complete the exchange within its frontier at the same time.
The western countries accuse Iran of developing nuclear weapons and want the United Nations to implement a new round of sanctions against Iran to force the Iranian government to make concessions on the nuclear issue.