Iran’s oil ministry has opened contacts with western majors as its new government tries to capitalise on progress in nuclear talks and encourage companies to prepare for an eventual lifting of sanctions.

Bijan Namdar Zanganeh, the veteran oil minister who has returned to government after an eight-year absence, told the Financial Times he had held meetings with European companies and “indirectly” with US firms with a view to inviting them back to Iran.

Mr Zanganeh – who persuaded the likes of Total, Royal Dutch Shell, Eni and Statoil to invest in the oil and gas sector in the 1990s despite US sanctions – said these companies were now among those he was seeking to attract back to the country. All have withdrawn from Iran in recent years, frustrated with unattractive oil contract terms and under pressure from new sanctions, which have slashed Iran’s production.