OIL'S NEWS (RELATIVE CLAUSES)

Iran to approach big international oil firms for talks

Iran's new administration is set to invite international companies for talks as it looks to mitigate the effects of Western sanctions that have damaged the country's energy sector, a senior oil ministry official in charge of international affairs was reported as saying Monday.

"Given the establishment of the new government and the positions taken by the President [Hassan Rowhani], our approach towards the international arena has majorly changed," Mansour Moazami, caretaker deputy minister for international and commercial affairs, was quoted as saying by oil ministry news service Shana.

The moderate cleric Rowhani, who set up his cabinet August 15, was elected Iran's president in mid-June based on a promise of reviving Tehran's relations with the West, whose companies have abandoned Iran's oil and gas projects to avoid punitive measures under the international sanctions introduced against the country because of its controversial nuclear program.