They have a hard time importing foreign products and services. However, the Iranian government has changed its policy. On the one hand they give Iranian companies much more freedom in developing contacts with foreign companies, but on the other hand, Iranian companies have to earn hard currency themselves. A Free Trade Zone registered company can invoice Iranian companies in Rials. Meanwhile, allowing your Iranian client to pay in Rials gives you a big advantage over your competitors.
Iranian companies can only import goods via letters of credit.
This does not apply to the Free Trade Zones. This will be a big incentive to your client to purchase from you and will shorten the entire transaction by many months. A permanent rep office in Tehran will allow you to give your clients much better service and to penetrate the market in a systematic way. The laws and regulations of Iran s Free Trade Zones state that any company registered in the Free Trade Zones can open representative offices in the Iranian mainland. As long as they are only involved in liaison and marketing services, they are not subject to taxation.