On Jan. 24 and 25, executives from Airbus, Lufthansa, and Bombardier shared tea and pastries with representatives of the Iranian aviation industry at the Parsian Azadi Hotel, a 26-story tower at the base of the snow-capped mountains that loom over northern Tehran.
While Europeans and Asians seek deals, most U.S. companies will have to watch from the sidelines.
Some foreign subsidiaries of U.S. companies will be allowed to work in Iran, but executives back at headquarters will have to keep their American operations walled off from Iranian entities still sanctioned under U.S. law, according to Azadeh Meskarian, an attorney at Zaiwalla, a law firm in London that advises clients on sanctions.
Peugeot, which got about 13 percent of its sales from Iran before pulling out in 2012, is in talks with automaker Iran Khodro and others about a car manufacturing venture.
Led by Chery Automobile, Lifan Industry and Anhui Jianghuai Automobile, the Chinese are on track to boost their share of the Iranian market from about 1 percent in 2011 to about 9 percent this year, according to researcher IHS Automotive.
Even the Europeans, though, may be cautious in their approach to Iran given that sanctions could be reimposed if the country violates the nuclear agreement.
The bottom line: As sanctions against Iran ease, and European and Asian companies are pouring in, their American rivals face more restrictions.
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