Revista del Instituto Español de Estudios Estratégicos n.º 12 - Año: 2018 - Págs.: 134657 a 13795 384 Journal of the Spanish Institute for Strategic Studies Núm. 12 / 2018 Foreign relations Following the agreement reached in July 2015 many nations sought to reposition themselves in view of the possibilities offered by the opening up of the Iranian market to international business in the post-sanctions era. With the removal of sanctions and Iran’s integration into financial and commercial circuits future economic prospects were bright. Internally repercussions consolidated the regime, which enjoyed an eco-nomic bounce-back. The fact that Teheran demonstrated compliance with the milestones set out in the nuclear agreement served as a starting point for the lifting of sanctions, which was of major significance in the field of energy. Production levels during the period of sanc-tions had been limited to less than 1.5 million barrels of oil per day. Once the agre-ement was signed, Iran began to prepare its oil infrastructure for sharp rises in pro-duction from January 2016. According to the Iranian Vice-President, Eshaq Jahangiri, in the month of August oil production reached 2.5 million barrels per day, regaining levels in existence prior to the imposition of international sanctions. Teheran aims at targeting its energy potential towards economic take-off, and while Chinese and Indian companies never left the Iranian market, new opportunities have encouraged companies such as Eni, Total, Lukoip, Shell or Repsol, to make partners-hips and share profits with the National Iranian Oil Company51. On the international stage, the Iranian government has re-formed alliances, prima-rily in trade, with the E3/EU+3 member-states excluding the US. Bolstered by com-pliance with its obligations under the JCPOA, it has found important trade partners on the European front. The visit of Hassan Rouhani to France in 2016 concluded, on the one hand, with the signing of important economic agreements between both Sta-tes including a credit agreement with the French bank COFACE guaranteeing trade finance on behalf of the French government. Companies such as the Total oil com-pany, the PSA car manufacturer, the Airbus Group and the construction companies Alston, Bouygues and Aeroports de Paris announced the injection of foreign capital into the Iranian economy, while on the other hand, the two presidents also discussed the ongoing conflicts in Syria, Lebanon and Yemen52. Another E3/EU+3 member, Germany, has been much more reticent. Intelligence services have been monitoring compliance with the Treaty since they still suspect that Iran is pursuing a covert nuclear programme related to the development of ballistic missiles. However, following talks between the Iranian Foreign Minister, Javad Zarif, 51 MONTOYA CERIO, Fernando. “Irán y su estratégico acuerdo Nuclear”, IEEE, 2016, p. 12. 52 MARLOWE, Lara. “‘New chapter’ as France and Iran reach trade agreements”, The Irish Times, (January 29, 2016). http://www.irishtimes.com/news/world/europe/new-chapter-asfrance-and-iran-reach- trade-agreements-1.2514274
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