Trump's 'crippling' sanctions cause Iran-Germany trade crumble

Iranian-German trade has collapsed because of crippling United States sanctions on the Islamic Republic, data published by Funke newspapers revealed.

Trade volumes between Iran and Germany, Europe’s largest economy, decreased by 49 percent over the first four months of 2019 compared to the same period in 2018, with volumes remaining on a consistent decline, according to figures from the German Chamber of Commerce.

The drastic drop, which decreased to a total volume of 529 million euros - shows the impact of sanctions, imposed by US President Donald Trump, which target companies doing business with Iran by stopping them from accessing the UK market.

There were around 60 German companies still doing business in Iran, according to Dagmar von Bohnstein, the Chamber’s representative in the Tehran. However, they were increasingly working only with local staff rather than employing on a larger scale.

European powers are keen to preserve the deal signed by Trump’s predecessor, Barack Obama, which relaxed global sanctions on Iran in return for Tehran's acceptance of restrictions on its nuclear program that are designed to stop it from building nuclear weapons.

European countries have tried to save the deal by preserving some of its economic benefits in spite of US sanctions but efforts have deemed fruitless with Iran largely excluded from oil markets and all major European companies cancelling plans to invest.

Tehran for decades has urged its nuclear programme is for civilian purposes only and said the sanctions have crippled Iran's economy.

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