VIENNA, July 23 (Reuters) - Iran has completed negotiations with some European companies wanting to invest in projects in the country following a nuclear deal reached between Iran and world powers this month, an Iranian deputy minister said on Thursday.

"We are recently witnessing the return of European investors to the country. Some of these negotiations have concluded, and we have approved and granted them the foreign investment licences and protections," Mohammad Khazaei told a conference promoting trade between the EU and Iran.

"Even in the past couple of weeks we have approved more than $2 billion of projects in Iran by European companies," he said, without naming any of the firms or providing further details on the deals.

(Reporting by Shadia Nasralla and Maria Sheahan; Editing by Pravin Char) ((maria.sheahan@thomsonreuters.com; +49 69 7565 1286; Reuters Messaging: maria.sheahan.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net))