German foreign minister to travel to Iran in October
German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier said on Monday he plans to travel to Iran in October, sending a strong signal that Europe's largest economy wants to quickly rebuild economic and political ties with the Islamic Republic.
Steinmeier's visit follows on from a three-day trip last month by Economy Minister Sigmar Gabriel, who became the first senior figure from a large Western government to visit Tehran since it struck a landmark nuclear agreement with world powers.
Under the July 14 deal, agreed after more than a decade of negotiations, U.S., EU, and U.N. sanctions will be lifted in return for Tehran imposing long-term curbs on nuclear activities which the West has suspected are aimed at making an atomic bomb.
"I will be in Iran in October," Steinmeier said at the opening of a diplomatic conference in Berlin on Monday. A foreign ministry spokesman said talks about the trip were just starting and he could not give any concrete details.
