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Citigroup and Goldman Sachs are two of the four banks which are reportedly to open branches in Iran.

Tehran - Four American banks, including Citibank and Goldman Sachs, have applied for opening a branch in Iran, an Iranian daily has reported.

The banks made a formal request to the Central Bank of Iran (CBI) about 20 days ago to establish a branch in the country, the Jaam-e-Jam newspaper quoted an informed source as saying.

“If the CBI approves their request, these four banks will set up a temporary branch in an Iranian free trade zone,” the source told Jaam-e-Jam, without revealing the names of the other two banks.

“If they can work according to Iran’s banking law, they will be allowed to open branches in Tehran and other cities.”

The report comes as Tehran and Washington are to enter direct negotiations to resolve a standoff over Iran’s nuclear program.

Earlier this month, the five permanent members of the United Nations Security Council—the US, Russia, China, France and Britain - plus Germany (P5+1) invited Iran for negotiations on the country’s uranium enrichment program.

The upcoming meeting will mark the first time the US will sit at the negotiating table with Iran without setting preconditions—such as demanding Iran give up its uranium enrichment activities.

The two Wall Street giants—Goldman Sachs and Citibank—have been hard hit by the economic recession in the US.

Goldman Sachs reported first-quarter earnings of $1.66 billion on Monday, which easily surpassed Wall Street’s estimates.

The investment bank also launched a $5 billion common stock offering in the hopes of using the proceeds to help it pay back $10 billion in government aid it received last year.

Citibank is the consumer banking arm of Citigroup, which has received $45 billion in bailout funds from the US government.

The banking group returned to profitability in the first quarter of 2009 after posting more than $18 billion in losses last year.

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