TEHRAN – Switzerland-based reinsurance Echo Re Ltd. has voiced interest in negotiating with Iranian insurance officials to explore business opportunities in Iran.

An Echo Re senior manager said representatives of the company are eager to pay a visit to Iran, the IRNA news agency reported on Sunday.

The Swiss Federal Council officially lifted Switzerland’s sanctions against Iran in August 2015.

During past years and as a result of sanctions imposed on the Islamic Republic over its nuclear program, foreign insurance companies refrained from providing insurance and reinsurance services to their Iranian counterparts.

The July 2015 nuclear agreement between Iran, the United States, Britain, France, China and Russia and Germany, which lifts sanctions against Iran, went into force on January 16.