Iran has emerged as the unlikely latest prospective destination for formula one.
The local Mehr news agency said officials have decided to build a circuit 35 kilometres south of the capital Tehran, with Apex Circuit Design assigned the contract.
"Planning and construction would follow all formula one standards," Mehr, reporting that the track will be the first of its kind in Iran, quoted Apex’s Martin Baerschmidt as saying.
"We were really surprised after seeing the landscape," he said.
The circuit will reportedly be inaugurated within six months, with the cost totalling $85 million.
The project’s executive manager Alireza Sabbagh added: "Iran has so many young people and there is an increasing tendency for them to drive. Formula one has a great future in the Asian country."
Oil-rich Iran is bordered by Afghanistan, Pakistan and Iraq.