Post-sanctions Iran 'could be the best emerging market for years to come'

Iranian businesses eye the trade that ending sanctions would bring, but say: don't expect a Russia-style gold rush - we already have a free market

Hamid Mohammadi is excited at the prospect of international sanctions on Iran being lifted once a nuclear agreement has been signed. But he's not that excited. The CEO of the Islamic republic's equivalent of Amazon is certainly looking forward to being re-connected to the outside world - vital for a fast-growing company at the cutting edge of digital innovation. But ending sanctions will not be a miracle cure for the country's economy.

Digikala, launched with three employees in 2007, will have 1,500 by the year's end as its slick Farsi-language online shopping service expands. It symbolises the energy of a young generation of wired and entrepreneurial Iranians who have built a domestic market from scratch and prospered despite international isolation. It guarantees deliveries within four hours in Tehran and its site boasts a whopping 750,000 unique visitors a day.