Germany committed to Iran’s economic development

Despite Trump’s best efforts to isolate Iran through the imposition of sanctions both on Iran and any government or business doing commerce with Iran, its partners in the JCPOA, which Trump unilaterally withdrew the US from a few weeks ago, are committed to preserving both the nuclear accord and their business ties with Iran.

German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas, speaking before the Global Solutions Summit in Berlin, has indicated that Germany committed to improving Iran’s commercial ties and economy as long as Iran remains compliant with the deal.

trend News Agency reports:

German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas says Berlin is prepared to help Iran improve its economy and business ties while Tehran remains committed to a landmark nuclear agreement it signed with major powers in 2015, Press TV reported.

“We will continue to make efforts to fulfill Iran’s hopes for economic recovery and good trade relations as long as Iran is ready and able to prove that it adheres to its obligations under the nuclear deal,” Maas said on Tuesday.

He was speaking at the Global Solutions Summit in Berlin three weeks after the United States pulled out from the landmark nuclear accord, officially known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA).

US President Donald Trump announced on May 8 that Washington was walking away from the nuclear agreement, which was reached between Iran and the five permanent members of the UN Security Council – the US, Britain, France, Russia and China – plus Germany.

Trump also said he would reinstate US nuclear sanctions on Iran and impose “the highest level” of economic bans on the Islamic Republic.

Since the US president pulled Washington out of the historic nuclear deal, other signatories, including Germany, have been scrambling to ensure that Iran gets enough economic benefits to persuade it to stay in the deal.

Maas has made news coverage recently relevant to the Iran agreement and Germany’s ties with fellow JPCOA signatory Russia relevant to his trip to Russia in order to court Russia’s ongoing commitment to the deal, as well as the flak he has been taking at home in Germany over his previous hostile remarks towards Russia.

Germany’s Chancellor, Angela Merkel, also travelled to the Russian resort city of Sochi for talks with the Russian President Vladimir Putin on energy cooperation, including the North Stream 2 pipeline project, as well as strategies aimed at settling the difficult situations that are ongoing in both the Ukraine and Syria. But courting Russia’s continued commitment to the JCPOA seemed to have been the primary focus of Merkel’s visit. Merkel has also travelled to China on a similar mission.

Far from isolating Iran, as Washington had hoped to achieve, Trump’s withdrawal from the nuclear accord and reimposition of sanctions only seems to be achieving the opposite effect, with Iran realizing infrastructure development with China, as well as trade agreements with the EAEU and China, and the commitment of both Germany and France to maintaining their economic ties with Iran together with other international companies persisting in their commerce with the Middle Eastern country, not to overlook the EU’s recent legislation aimed at protecting European commerce with Iran.