French carmaker Renault is in talks to buy a minority stake in its Iranian joint venture partner, the Wall Street Journal cited an executive at the Iranian firm as saying.

Naser Aghamohammadi, managing director of Renault's state-controlled partner Pars Khodro, said the French group was in talks to buy less than half of the shares in his company, the newspaper said on its website on Friday.

He said Renault was also in talks to buy infrastructure, such as car plants, owned by Pars Khodro's parent company Saipa Group.

A spokeswoman for Renault in Paris declined to comment.

The French carmaker is keen to start making and selling vehicles in Iran again with local partners Iran Khodro and Pars Khodro, to rebuild the significant market position it enjoyed before international sanctions on Tehran were introduced in 2011. - Reuters