September 21, 2018
Iran’s Industrial Development and Renovation Organization (IDRO) and Australia’s Avass Group have signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) for the joint manufacturing of electric cars and motorcycles in Iran, the Tehran Times has reported.
Avass Group is a privately-owned business set up in Melbourne in 2011 that currently makes all-electric buses there. With no business in the United States, it appears to be unconcerned about sanctions. The report did not say how it would conduct financial transactions between Australia and Iran.
Tehran has decreed the death knell for gasoline-powered motorcycles in the capital and is seeking to promote electric powered motorcycles to fight pollution.
Based on the MoU, Avass will transfer technology to Iran and also invest 100 million euros ($117 million) for joint manufacturing of the products.
Avass Group has chosen Iran as its production and export center in the West Asia, Central Asia and Russia region, said Seyed Ali Araqchi, IDRO’s director for international affairs.