JV is the first after United Nations sanctions were eased on Mideast nation

Iran signed a $4.8 billion natural gas development project with energy giants Total SA and China National Petroleum Corp, marking the first joint venture with international partners since UN sanctions on the nation were eased in January.

Paris-based Total will control 50.1 percent in the project, with CNPC taking 30 percent and Iran's Petropars the rest. The deal, for the 11th phase of the offshore South Pars gas field, is still preliminary, with both sides signing a "heads up agreement", according to Gholam-Reza Manouchehri, deputy director of the National Iranian Oil Co.