Woo Tae-hee told the Korea Herald on Wednesday that after the removal of sanctions, crude imports from Iran will rise given its high quality.

He underlined that even good talks have been held with the Iranian officials to that end.

The South Korean official had visited Iran at the head of a high-ranking delegation in early August and held talks with top Iranian economic officials.

A senior Iranian petrochemical official said in August that South Korean officials had indicated Seoul's willingness to return to Iran's petrochemical industry, saying Iran had offered them to build petrochemical parts for Iranian plants.

Following a visit from Iran by a high-profile Korean trade delegation, Mohammad Hassan Peyvandi, deputy head of National Petrochemical Company (NPC), said Iranian manufacturers have built up much strength ever since western restrictions were imposed on the country.

"The capabilities of Iranian manufacturers and vendors have improved a lot during the past decade and we have proposed Korean companies to manufacture parts in cooperation with Iranian industrialists," Peyvandi said.

Pointing to a recent meeting between South Korean Minister of Land, Infrastructure and Transport Yoo il-Ho and Iranian Petroleum Minister Bijan Zangeneh in Tehran, he said, "Korea, like other Asian and European countries, has indicated its readiness to return to Iran's oil, gas and petrochemical market."

Prior to imposition of US-led sanctions on Iran, Korean companies operated in various engineering and equipment manufacturing sectors in the petrochemical industry of Iran, he further said.

"Certainly, the potentialities of foreign investment in Iran will be activated by removal of the sanctions," he added; FNA reported.