Iran and South Korea set to triple trade to $18b

Iran and South Korea have decided to triple their annual trade volume to $18 billion, President Hassan Rouhani announced on Monday after meeting his South Korean counterpart Park Geun-Hye.

"The two sides decided to increase by three times the current trade volume of around $6 billion (5.2 billion euros) to $18 billion," Rouhani said in a joint televised press conference.

"We also spoke about tourism, direct flights between Seoul and Tehran, and Korean investment in Iranian tourism infrastructure, including building hotels," he added.

Park is the first South Korean president to visit Iran since the two countries established diplomatic relations in 1962, and as Seoul seeks new markets to turn around a lengthy decline in export revenues.

Her three-day visit comes just months after a historic nuclear deal with world powers lifted sanctions crippling Iran's economy in exchange for limits on its nuclear programme.

Park, who is accompanied by several ministers and a 230-strong business delegation, will also be received by Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

The two countries have pledged to develop their relations in the energy sector.