Iran has attracted US$7 billion in foreign investment in the current Iranian year ending March 20, Fars reported, citing interior minister Mostafa Mohammad Najjar.
Mr Mohammad Najjar did not say which countries the investment came from nor what projects they went to, according to the state-run news agency's report. The minister said foreign investment was $5bn the previous Iranian year. Iran's economy minister Shamseddin Hosseini in May put last year's figure at $4.3bn.
Iran is under United Nations, US and European Union sanctions over its nuclear programme, which Western powers say may be aimed at developing atomic weapons, a claim Iran denies.
Though their effects have been downplayed by Iranian authorities, financial and trade restrictions limit international companies' involvement in Iranian business, have weakened the country's national currency and contributed to accelerating inflation that nears 30 per cent.
The International Monetary Fund is forecasting 0.8 per cent economic growth for Iran in 2013.
* Bloomberg News
