Exec recruiter Pedersen plans Iran return as sanctions lift
26 November 2013
Executive recruiter Pedersen & Partners tells recruiter.co.uk it is seriously considering a return to Iran, as international negotiations agree an easing of sanctions on the state.
Tue, 26 Nov 2013 | By Sam Burne JamesExecutive recruiter Pedersen & Partners tells recruiter.co.uk it is seriously considering a return to Iran, as international negotiations agree an easing of sanctions on the state.
Sabit Tapan, a partner at Pedersen and country manager for Turkey, says the company had previously been present in the country up until early this year. “It became clear that it was not possible to work in Iran,” he says. “We were not subject to the sanctions [ourselves], but our clients could not work there.”
EU sanctions preventing certain elements of trade and investment in Iran could be lifted as soon as December, a French minister has said, while international law firm Clyde & Co says US laws could “be lifted by the president without the approval of Congress”, in a briefing on the matter available online.
Tapan says the effect of sanctions are broader than those they immediately apply today, noting that while Pedersen as a firm was not “technically” restricted from doing business in Iran, “in the real world” the sanctions stopped it being worthwhile due to restrictions on clients.
“This morning I had a discussion with my team to say we should not wait,” he told recruiter.co.uk yesterday (25 November). He suggests healthcare as an industry that could be set for new opportunities in the country.
Meanwhile, a spokesperson for UK Trade & Investment says that for the moment, the organisation’s position on Iran remains the same, that it does not encourage trade with or investment in the country nor provide any commercial services to assist companies doing business with Iran.
Any change in policy, the spokesperson says, would come from the Foreign Office.
Sam Burne James
Sabit Tapan, a partner at Pedersen and country manager for Turkey, says the company had previously been present in the country up until early this year. “It became clear that it was not possible to work in Iran,” he says. “We were not subject to the sanctions [ourselves], but our clients could not work there.”
EU sanctions preventing certain elements of trade and investment in Iran could be lifted as soon as December, a French minister has said, while international law firm Clyde & Co says US laws could “be lifted by the president without the approval of Congress”, in a briefing on the matter available online.
Tapan says the effect of sanctions are broader than those they immediately apply today, noting that while Pedersen as a firm was not “technically” restricted from doing business in Iran, “in the real world” the sanctions stopped it being worthwhile due to restrictions on clients.
“This morning I had a discussion with my team to say we should not wait,” he told recruiter.co.uk yesterday (25 November). He suggests healthcare as an industry that could be set for new opportunities in the country.
Meanwhile, a spokesperson for UK Trade & Investment says that for the moment, the organisation’s position on Iran remains the same, that it does not encourage trade with or investment in the country nor provide any commercial services to assist companies doing business with Iran.
Any change in policy, the spokesperson says, would come from the Foreign Office.
Sam Burne James
