Asadollah Gharehkhani, spokesman of the parliament's energy committee, underlined developing downstream industries as the best way to secure economic growth in the country.

The MP called for boosting petrochemical exports, saying, "we need to boost our petrochemical exports in order to reduce sale of crude oil and gas."

Iran is one of the world's richest countries for enjoying massive oil and gas reserves.

Iran is trading each tonne of crude oil at around $500. That could be multiplied by 16 if crude oil is converted into other products, particularly petrochemicals.

More fascinating figures will be achieved if the value chain in hydrocarbon materials is extended further.

For instance, Iran is earning $300 million from each million tonnes of raw materials, but it could raise the figure to $670 million in downstream industry. It means the rate of return on investment is 12% to 15% in upstream sector and 30% to 35% in downstream sector.

Iran is expanding its petrochemical sector at a rapid pace. The country's petrochemical output, which was below three million tonnes in the early years following the 1979 Islamic Revolution, has exceeded 60 million tonnes a year.