One of the many bad traditions of German foreign policy is to simply carry on as before, even when the previous approach has collapsed like a house of cards. In 2022, after the “Woman, Life, Freedom” revolution and the brutal human rights violations in Iran, Annalena Baerbock announced that there could no longer be “business as usual.”
The balance in 2024: German business with the Iranian dictatorship is going better than ever. In the first half of the year, German trade with Iran grew by 11.6 percent and amounts to a shameful volume of 636 million euros. Often these are “dual-use goods” that the reign of terror of the Ayatollahs and Revolutionary Guards use for their illegitimate nuclear program and for the further production of weapons, which are also supplied to Putin.
The Ayatollah rule is currently about as stable as that of the SED shortly before the fall of the Berlin Wall.
These trade relations are vital to the regime’s survival: in a financially bankrupt state, every cent counts, and they maintain the false illusion that the country is stable. Yet the Ayatollah regime is currently about as stable as the SED regime was shortly before the fall of the Berlin Wall. That is why trade with this dictatorship is short-sighted – and morally reprehensible. Iran has a kleptocratic planned economy, exorbitant corruption and cruel political persecution. These are not stable conditions for economic relations.
It is not the sole responsibility of German companies to withdraw from trade with Iran, but also a duty of politicians to open up other markets for small and medium-sized companies. On a larger scale than before, this could include the United Arab Emirates, for example, but also Bahrain. In any case, a concerted effort is needed to withdraw from the Iranian market. The equipment of German companies is being used by the “revolutionary leader” Khamenei and his henchmen to cause destruction throughout the Middle East and in Ukraine.
The author is a member of the state executive board of the Berlin FDP.
