LONDON: Iran is in discussions about getting a sovereign credit rating and will need to regain its pre-sanctions oil market share before joining any talks on production cuts, the chief of staff to President Hassan Rou­hani said on Wednesday.

Mohammad Naha­van­dian declined to comment on the test-firing on Wednesday of two missiles that Iran’s Islamic Revolu­tionary Guards Corps said were designed to be able to hit Israel, defying a threat of new sanctions from the United States.

A credit rating is seen as a necessary first step for Iran to be able borrow on international capital markets as its economy recovers from years of international sanctions.

“We are in negotiations with some of these rating agencies,” Naha­vandian told Reuters on the sidelines of an Financial Times Iran Conference, replying “yes” when asked whether he expected the agencies to provide a full credit rating.

A collapse in the price of oil since mid-2014 has led some big exporters to suggest an output freeze, but Nahavandian reiterated that Iran, whose crude reserves are among the world’s largest, would be increasing its production in the near-term.

“Iran has to go back to its market share, there is no doubt about that. If there is any decision to be made (on cutting production) it has to be made by those who have filled the vacuum after the Iran sanctions,” he said.

“So Iran has to go back to the footing it used to enjoy, then (it) will join the group (of producers considering a freeze on output).”

Published in Dawn, March 10th, 2016