BERLIN, Dec 11 (Reuters) – German exports to Iran soared in October, a month before the United States re-instated sanctions on the Islamic Republic to choke its oil and shipping industries, data seen by Reuters showed on Tuesday.
The surge signals willingness among Germany’s small to medium-sized firms, or Mittelstand, to continue doing business with Iran despite the risk of being blacklisted by the United States for defying its sanctions.
Official figures by the Federal Statistics Office reveal that German goods exported to Iran totalled almost 400 million euros ($455 million) in October, a year-on-year surge of 85 percent and the highest monthly volume since 2009.
U.S. President Donald Trump re-imposed sanctions on Iran on Nov. 5 after he abandoned a 2015 nuclear deal between Tehran and world powers. He said the sanctions seek to cripple Iran’s oil-dependent economy and force it to abandon its nuclear ambitions and ballistic missile programme and halt support for militant proxies in Syria, Yemen, and Lebanon.