ISLAMABAD: Pakistan officially lifted sanctions on Iran on Friday and decided to revive economic and commercial relations with the neighbouring country.

The decision was taken by an inter-ministerial meeting chaired by Finance Minister Ishaq Dar which discussed modalities for lifting the sanctions in accordance with the UN Security Council Resolution 2231.

The finance ministry said in a statement that a notification regarding the decision had been issued by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

It said that economic and commercial relations with Iran in various fields including trade, investment, technology, banking, finance and energy had been revived with immediate effect and all previous notifications with regard to UN sanctions on Iran stood repealed.

The statement of the finance ministry said that Pakistan welcomed the Joint Comprehensive Pro­gra­mme of Action Iran had reached with the European Union, China, United States, Germany, France, United Kingdom and the Russian Federation.

Because of the ban, Pakistan’s exports to Iran fell to a mere $43 million in 2014 from $182 million in 2010.

The two countries are now working on a strategy to increase bilateral trade to $5 billion in five years.

Published in Dawn, February 20th, 2016