Investing Through Free Trade Industrial Zones Iran’s interest in free trade industrial zones (FTIZs) can be traced back to the 1970s, when the concept of developing Kish Island as a free trade area was first mooted. During the 1990s, following the end of the eight-year war with Iraq, three FTIZs were formally established: two islands in the Persian Gulf (Kish and Qeshm) and one on the coast of Sea of Oman (Chabahar).