The EU and the USA want to prevent a war in the Middle East with new tough sanctions against Iran. German exports to the Islamic Republic have recently increased.
Despite tightened sanctions against Iran, German exports to the country increased significantly at the beginning of the year. From January to February, exports grew by a good fifth (22 percent) to 241 million euros, as the Federal Statistical Office in Wiesbaden announced. Imports fell by more than 13 percent to 41.2 million euros.
At the beginning of the year, mainly machinery as well as chemical and pharmaceutical products were exported from Germany to Iran. In January and February, mainly foodstuffs were imported from Iran, including pistachios and textiles such as knotted carpets. However, the country is only a small trading partner of the Federal Republic: In terms of exports, Iran ranked 64th among the most important trading partners from January to February, behind Colombia and ahead of North Macedonia. Iran ranked 91st in terms of imports.
There are severe restrictions in the EU on foreign trade with Iran. The sanctions were last tightened in July 2023 due to Iranian support for Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine. After Iran’s recent major attack on Israel, the USA and the EU want to prevent a new war in the Middle East with further sanctions. The foreign ministers of the G7 countries wanted to discuss further sanctions against Iran on Thursday in view of the threat of a conflagration.
Last year, German exports to Iran fell by almost a quarter to 1.2 billion euros. From 2019 to 2022, Germany exported goods worth 1.5 to 1.6 billion euros to Iran every year. Exports had previously collapsed by 43.9 percent from 2.7 billion euros in 2018 to 1.5 billion euros in 2019 after the USA canceled the nuclear deal with Iran and put new sanctions in force.
Source: Stern
