IRNA � The European Union (EU) has removed sanctions on four major Iranian oil companies on the occasion of the first anniversary of the implementation day of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA).

The companies which are subject to removal of sanctions include Iran Oil Pension Fund Investment Company (OPIC), Petropars Operation and Management Company (POMC), Petropars Resources and Engineering Company (PRE) and Iran Liquefied Natural Gas Company (Iran LNG).

The OPIC is the most important of the four as it plays fundamental role in financing investment projects in the Iranian oil industry.

With sanctions removed now, the company will play a more active role in financing projects and attracting foreign investments.

The European Union started sanctions on the companies in 2012.

The European body has also removed sanctions on another group of Iranian companies active in economic areas. It announced the names of Moallem Insurance Company, Iran Aluminum Company (IAC), Hanseatic shipping Company and Nasser Bateni as the entities and persons which will be excluded from sanctions.

Iran�s Saderat Bank and its London branch are also out of sanction list now, the EU said.

On 16 January 2016, the Council lifted all nuclear-related economic and financial EU sanctions against Iran following verifications by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) on 16 January 2016 that Iran has implemented the agreed nuclear-related measures as set out in the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA).

On 14 July 2015, China, France, Germany, Russia, the United Kingdom and the United States, with the High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, agreed the JCPOA aimed at ensuring the exclusively peaceful nature of the Iranian nuclear programme while providing for the comprehensive lifting of all UN Security Council sanctions as well as EU and US sanctions related to Iran's nuclear program following an agreed sequence of actions.

The Council on 18 October 2015 adopted the legal acts providing for the lifting of these sanctions upon verification by the IAEA of the implementation of Iran's commitments under the JCPOA.

Implementation of the JCPOA will lead to removal of all sanctions against Iran in areas pertaining to oil, gas and petrochemical industries thus facilitating Iran�s road to regaining its pre-sanction position in world markets.