BMW has become the first carmaker to export cars to Iran after a decade-long ban.

Two 5-series cars were successfully imported, fetching around 120,000 euros (£80,730), just under three times their price in Germany because of tariffs starting at 130%.

"Following painstaking procedures, we obtained permits to import our cars and a few have made it through customs," BMW Iran's Sean Arjmand.

Eight more are still being examined by customs officials in the southern port of Bandar Abbas.

BMW hopes eventually to import between 2,000 to 3,000 cars a year, as long as customs procedures are eased.

The Islamic Republic allowed the import of cars from March 2004 to make the state-dominated domestic market more competitive and in response in demand.