Iran says it is ready to negotiate with Japan over the return of the country�s enterprises to its oil projects as well as its upstream industries.

Iran�s Oil Minister Bijan Zangeneh told reporters after a meeting with a visiting Japanese trade delegation that Iran expects a bright future in cooperation with Japan in all areas.

�[Economic] relations between the two countries halted for a period due to the cruel sanctions,� Zangeneh said. �But with the removal of the sanctions, relations will see a perfect growth�.

The Iranian minister further emphasized that the Japanese companies can also invest in the development as well as the trade of Iranian liquefied natural gas (LNG).

�We had useful talks with Japan�s State Minister of Economy, Trade and Industry [Daishiro Yamagiwa] as well as CEOs of Japanese companies,� Zangeneh said.

Yamagiwa arrived in Tehran on Saturday for a two-day visit to explore the avenues to promote trade ties between Iran and Japan. Executives from 21 companies, including oil, gas and automotive industries, are accompanying him

�We told Inpex and others that Tehran is ready to negotiate over their return to Iran�s energy projects�.

Inpex, Japan�s leading oil explorer, was the key investor in a project to develop Iran�s Azadegan oil field, but had to abandon the project in 2010 due to the US-engineered sanctions against the country.

The company had invested 12.5 billion yen ($153 million) in Azadegan which is known among industrialists as Iran�s biggest oil find in decades.

The field is located in Iran�s southwestern Khuzestan province and has an in-place reserve of 26 billion barrels and recoverable resources estimated at about 6 billion barrels.

By Press TV