Iran auto industry not to roll out red carpet for firms from hostile states: CEO

President of Iran’s largest carmaker, Iran Khodro Company, Hashem Yekke Zare, underlined the country’s capabilities in manufacturing modern cars, and said Tehran will not roll out a red carpet for the automakers of the states which have shown a hostile behavior towards Iran.

“Today, we are in a position that we talk with the world’s top automakers not from the position of a country in need, but from the position of a partner which owns technology,” Yekke Zare told reporters in Tehran on Saturday afternoon.

“We will never roll out a red carpet for the countries which have not had a friendly attitude, words and performance towards our country and have probably caused trouble for the Islamic Republic of Iran and no change is seen in their behavior,” he added.

“Iran’s market is highly attractive to the foreign automakers,” Yekke Zare said, and added that ensuring durable and long-term cooperation in designing and manufacturing modern products sets a priority for Iran Khodro Company (IKCO).

He also announced that Iran plans to choose a European partner, and said, “Several highly creditable companies want to launch cooperation with Iran Khodro, but IKCO never forgets the lessons it has learned from the past and it does not want to sign contracts which could be vulnerable to minor problems.”

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