"French Carrier Pursues Stake in Iranian Wireless Firm"

France’s Orange SA has entered preliminary talks to buy a piece of Iran’s largest cellular operator in what would mark the first acquisition of a stake in a major Iranian firm by a Western company since nuclear sanctions were lifted in January.

Orange, France’s largest telecom company, is one of several European companies that have held discussions about taking a stake in Mobile Telecommunication Co. of Iran, according to people familiar with the matter. The names of the others couldn’t immediately be learned.

A deal would come on the heels of the lifting of international sanctions on Iran over its nuclear program, which the U.S. and other nations say was working toward producing a nuclear bomb, something Tehran has denied.