Summary by @tldr:

To slow the momentum of dual containment, Iran attempted to offer lucrative contracts to American companies and to improve trade relations with the West during the early and mid-1990s.
Despite U.S. concerns, Russia also began construction of an $800 million nuclear power reactor in southern Iran, and the two countries agreed to set up joint companies to explore and produce Caspian Sea oil.
As a result, Iran assertively developed economic relationships with the republics of the former Soviet Union to the north, aiming to become a regional transit point for gas and oil sourced from Central Asia.
Due to unique geographical conditions, much of the oil and gas extracted from Central Asia would be exported more efficiently if shipped through Iranian pipelines or swap agreements.
With the 1995 visit by President Ali Akbar Rafsanjani to New Delhi, and the launch of the India-Iran chamber of commerce in that same year, economic activity between Iran and India increased.
These countries have played an instrumental role by becoming re-export centers for Iranian imports.For example, the volume of exports from United Arab Emirates (UAE) to Iran between 1978 and 1996 grew more than fivefold, most of which consists of re-exports of western-made products.