LONDON, Sep. 30 (MNA) � Head of the British delegate due in Tehran told reporters that sanctions cannot be continued.Martin Johnson, who heads a high-ranking British commercial-investment delegation of 24 members, told the reporters that the British are getting prepared for post-sanctions relation with Tehran.

Johnson, the Director General of the British-Iranian Chamber of Commerce, maintained that years of political tension between Tehran and London has affected the trade between the two countries.

"We decided to form a delegation to visit Tehran and get familiar with the Iranian huge market as a step toward strengthening the ties between Iran and the UK," said Johnson.

On the agenda of the visit, Johson recounted that the first goal is to �observe, listen, and better understand� as the best starting point.

Responding to the question on why the British are eager for resuming trade with Iran, he said that the anti-Iran sanctions could not be continued any more and hoped for immediate implementation of JCPOA.

Prior to the Western-led sanctions against Iran in 2011, the Iran-Britain trade was more than �623 million, compared to �256 million in 2012, which further fell to �121 million in the same year due to the escalation of sanctions, according to the Eurostat. The figure stood at over �121 million back in 2013.

However, the two-way trade took an ascending trend in 2014 in the wake of the interim nuclear accord reached between Iran and world powers, touching �152 million.

Trade between the two countries amounted to �80 million in the first half of 2015, a 9 percent decrease compared to the same period in 2014.

Last month, British Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond led a diplomatic and trade delegation to re-open the British Embassy in Tehran after nearly four years without diplomatic relations between the two countries.

By Mehr News Agency