Iran Woos Westerners to Rebuild Oil Industry

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MANAMA, Bahrain (AP) _ After denouncing Western oil companies as agents of Satan for more than a decade, Iran is wooing them back to rebuild its rundown oil industry and bankroll an economic revival. An extraordinary three-day energy conference hosted by the state-run National Iranian Oil Co. in the central city of Isfahan provided one of the clearest signals yet that Tehran is trying to emerge from prolonged isolation. The conference was attended by 300 delegates from the international oil industry, including the Caltex Corp. and Chevron Corp. The Iranians and Chevron emissaries were negotiating development of offshore oil fields. A few years ago the presence of …