Merkel’s deputy in Tehran to talk business

Germany’s Economy Minister Sigmar Gabriel is in Tehran for high-level economic and trade talks with Iranian officials, Press TV reported on its website.

Sigmar flew to Tehran on Sunday at the head of a delegation of “representatives from companies, industry groups and the sciences," his ministry said in a statement.

Gabriel, who is also Chancellor Merkel's deputy leader and energy minister, embarked on the three-day trip to hold talks with Iran’s President Hassan Rouhani and several ministers following Tuesday's landmark nuclear conclusion between Tehran and the P5+1 countries - Britain, China, France, Russia, the United States and Germany.

The German minister said in a statement that the nuclear conclusion had laid the groundwork for “normalizing economic ties with Iran.”