Wearing business suits set off with sneakers, the American executives trailed a young guide along the narrow sidewalks of the capital of Iran, once branded by the United States as part of the "Axis of Evil." Their destination was one of Tehran's most luxurious restaurants, where Iranian officials and business consultants greeted the visitors with open arms and the Pharrell Williams song "Happy" blasted from the sound system. "Everybody loves us here," said Ned Lamont, a digital services entrepreneur and former politician, holding a glass of carrot juice offered by one of his hosts. Just as the Obama administration and Congress were wrangling over details of a nuclear agreement with Iran last week, the group of 24 executives were touring the country on a fact-finding mission. Of course, the organizers rushed to explain, this was by no means a business delegation. "We are tourists," said Dick Simon, a co-founder of the Young Presidents' Organization, a network of business executives. "But naturally many in our company have the potential of getting involved here, as they lead some very significant businesses," he said, referring to his fellow traveler. American companies are barred from doing business in Iran, which remains under a regimen of sanctions aimed at pressuring the country to curtail its nuclear program. The sanctions, which cover financial transactions as well as a host of industries like petroleum and shipping, have put a stranglehold on the Iranian economy, which is struggling with inflation and shortages of food and consumer goods. With the United States and Iran currently negotiating a nuclear deal under which those sanctions would eventually be lifted, some American companies are now hoping for new business opportunities in a country that has long been off limits. The visit to Iran by the American group, which included venture capitalists and business executives from a range of industries, including real estate, health care and insurance, was organized by individual members of the Young Presidents' Organization. Last week's trip was the group's third to the Islamic republic. "There was a waiting list. The prospect of a changing Iran is very interesting," Mr. Simon said. At the function Thursday night, the delegates sat at tables decorated with cards marked with topics of conversation: "Real Estate," "Diplomacy," "Luxury" and "ICT," for information and communications technology. The women in the group wore head scarves, as is obligatory in Iran. "I should be at 'ICT,' I think," said Mr. Lamont, whose Connecticut-based company provides video and data services to college campuses, "but I think the 'Diplomacy' table will be more interesting for now." Mr. Lamont and the others in the group arrived in Tehran last week after touring ancient sites near Shiraz, a city in the south, under the watchful eyes of government minders. "They don't want us to get in any sorts of trouble, or have an incident, but we have been mostly free to go around," said Mr. Lamont, who like other members of the group was bubbling with enthusiasm over the hospitality of their Iranian hosts. In the Shiite holy city of Qum, the group sat down with a reform-minded ayatollah who told them that Iran was on the verge of major change. "I asked, what about the 'Death to America' slogan?" Mr. Lamont said, referring to the phrase that appears on many banners across the country and has long been shouted at public demonstrations. But the cleric responded that the slogan was from a different era. "He told us, 'This is the new Iran,' " Mr. Lamont said. "Such messages are hopeful and different." At the restaurant on Thursday, Cyrus Razzaghi, a prominent Iranian business consultant, and other speakers extolled the potential of the Iranian economy for adventurous American investors. "In the end these are not normal tourists of course, they are wealthy, powerful and influential Americans," Mr. Razzaghi said. "Besides from giving them a taste of Iranian culture, I felt they would also be interested in Iran's huge market." Iran's deputy minister of telecommunications, Nasrollah Jahangard, peppered the audience with statistics, saying Iran was one of the most connected countries in the region. "The number of smartphones is expected to be doubled to 40 million on a population of nearly 80 million," he said. "We have 3G running and 4G networks under development; we are moving forward fast," Mr. Jahangard said in English. His words seemed to pique the interest of some of the executives. Christopher Schroeder, a venture capitalist, said he saw some promise in the country's technology sector. "I have met with young women who are running Iran's versions of Amazon and Groupon. They could really get somewhere in the future." However, it was clear from the questions about the economy and the influence of hard-liners that many obstacles remain. http://ift.tt/1IBIBT4 http://ift.tt/1IBIBT4

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Billboards in Iran Say 'Death to America,' but Officials Say 'Let's Make a Deal'

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