The company this week agreed contracts with five domestic mining companies to provide them with road-building machinery, and plans to expand its provision to mining equipment in line with government plans, say Iranian officials.

HEPCO signed deals relating to equipment supply with firms including Mobarakeh Steel Company, Gol Gohar Mining and Mining Investment Insurance Company, reported the state-run Tehran Times.

Initially the contracts cover road-building machinery, but in future HEPCO plans to start manufacturing mining machines, Khodadad Gharibpour, the head of Iranian Mines and Mining Industries Development and Renovation Organization (IMIDRO), said at the signing.

HEPCO, which has been building heavy equipment since 1972, is being asked to step in as the country develops the mining sector in reaction to US sanctions.

"Indigenizing the machinery and equipment needed by mining is top of the agenda for IMIDRO", writes the newspaper, which notes that mines are being shut down due to a lack of machinery or overhaul services by foreign companies affected by US sanctions.

Washington has imposed sanctions with respect to any person or entity determined by the Treasury to have sold goods or services to the construction, mining, manufacturing, and textiles sectors of the Iranian economy.

This includes both services and equipment used for boring, conveyor belts, directional digging technology, haul trucks, hydraulic excavators, explosives, and power shovels.