Germany Suspends Iran Trade Programs as EU Cites Worsening Ties

  • Guarantees for loans and investments have been dormant
  • EU envoy has condemned Iranian ‘repression’ of protesters

Shipping containers at the port in Bandar Imam Khomeini, Iran.

Photographer: Ali Mohammadi/Bloomberg
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Germany said it’s suspending trade-promotion programs for Iran, citing the “very serious situation” in the country.

The suspension — days after the EU’s top diplomatic representative said relations with Iran were deteriorating — affects loan and investment guarantees that opened up in 2016 after Iran’s nuclear agreement, but have been dormant since at least 2019, the Economy Ministry in Berlin said in a statement Friday.