TEHRAN, May 17 (Xinhua) -- Iran has signed a deal with Pergas Consortium, a group of international oil and gas companies based in London, to develop Iran's Karanj oilfield in its southwestern province of Khuzestan, local media reported Thursday.

National Iranian South Oil Company (NISOC) on Wednesday signed a so-called heads of agreement (HOA) with Pergas for the project, first such deal since the U.S. withdrew from the Iranian nuclear agreement last week.

The signing ceremony was attended by Iranian Minister of Petroleum Bijan Namdar Zanganeh, NISOC CEO Bijan Alipour, British Ambassador to Tehran Robert Macaire, and Pergas Managing Director Colin Rowley.

"We hope that the governments of Britain and other European countries support the agreements that their companies signed with Iran," Zanganeh said at the ceremony.

With reference to the U.S. pressures on Iran's economy, the minister said that "the present circumstances will pass and we will emerge as winner."

"We will make every effort to maintain our production capacity and continue our exports," Zanganeh said.

According to the PetroEnergy Information Network, which is affiliated to Iran's Petroleum Ministry, an estimated investment of over 350 million U.S. dollars have been envisaged for developing the brownfield.

U.S. President Donald Trump declared last week to withdraw from the landmark Iranian nuclear deal, claiming that the deal had failed to prevent Iran from developing nuclear weapons or supporting terrorism in the region.

However, European top diplomats on Tuesday agreed to follow through the 2015 nuclear deal despite Trump's decision, while pledging support for the European investors in Iran.