“The Russia-Iran intergovernmental commission will convene in late October-early November. Now Iran is readying proposals regarding participation of companies in its production projects, and when they announce them [proposals] it will be clear whether they meet the interests of our companies. On the whole we believe that we have a good chance to return to cooperation in Iran projects,” Sputnik News quoted the Russian Energy Minister Alexander Novak as saying on Saturday.

Russia’s Ambassador to Tehran Levan Dzhagaryan had announced last week that Tehran had proposed to Moscow to hold a meeting of the bilateral intergovernmental committee on trade in November, according to Press TV.

Russia’s second-largest oil producer Lukoil also plans to sign a deal on oil exploration and production with Iran.

Lukoil’s CEO Vagit Alekperov had said he plans to meet with Iran’s Oil Minister Bijan Namdar Zanganeh when the OPEC summit takes place in Vienna in December.

Lukoil had originally been working in Iran’s Anaran block with Norway’s Norsk Hydro before the sanctions regime was put in place.

Iran’s South Pars Phases 2 and 3 were developed by an international consortium that included Russia’s Gazprom and Total and Petronas.