With all the pressure from the international community, the Islamic Republic of Iran is pushing on with attempts to increase foreign investments in its oil and gas fields, an energy official was quoted as saying on Saturday.

Negotiations about developing phases 19 to 21 of the South Pars gas field with Petropars and Eni are going on, Akbar Torkan, managing director of Pars Oil and Gas Company was quoted as saying by Fars.

Eni declined to comment on an Iranian report earlier this week that it had expressed interest in taking part in developing the third phase of the Iranian oil field Darkho"in.

Energy officials in Iran have often announced target dates for signing major oil and gas deals but big energy deals can often take years to negotiate.