See, told ya, Iran knows from spineless, gutless wimps:
http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2008/04/18/news/Germany-Iran.php
BERLIN: An Iranian deputy foreign minister said Friday that Germany’s reduction in trade with Iran as part of Western sanctions is not hurting his country because competitors from Asia are stepping in to fill the gaps.
Mehdi Safari told reporters in Berlin that Iran’s trade with Asia and Pacific nations had more than doubled in the past three years to reach about $90 billion in 2007. That number is expected to grow to more than $100 billion this year, he said.
At the same time, trade with Germany — for decades one of Iran’s most important trading partners — and with other European nations has shrunk, Safari said.
“Who is losing, you have to ask yourself,” Safari said. “We are doing our job.”
Under Chancellor Angela Merkel, Germany has cut back trade with Iran as part of Western-led efforts to force Tehran to suspend its uranium enrichment program.
German exports to Iran shrank to $5 billion in 2007 from $6.8 billion in 2006, according to figures released in February by the Economic Ministry.
Yet Safari insisted that his nation sees no link between its nuclear program and the drop in trade, saying Iran had cooperated fully with the U.N.’s nuclear watchdog — the International Atomic Energy Agency, or IAEA.
“We did our job with the IAEA. We did a good job, we answered all of the questions that supposedly they asked us,” Safari said.
While in Berlin, Safari held talks with his counterparts in Germany’s Foreign Ministry, as well as with several high-ranking businessmen.
“I told them please, don’t lose the market,” he said. “If you don’t supply some of the parts, we will substitute them and it will be very hard to come back.”
Heres the kicker
The opposition pro-business Free Democrats have criticized Merkel’s government for making it difficult for mid-sized German firms to do business in Iran.
The same lefteous monkeys currently training Thinkers to hang from trees and boycott greedy Google over China’s occupying Tibet are okay doing business with Iran’s murderous, religious, gay-bashing fanatics. = Umurkins by any other definition. Precious.
Asked about reports that average Iranians are starting to feel the effect of the international sanctions, Safari insisted no one in his nation was suffering.
“When I said that the numbers of the trade are coming down, I didn’t say that we are suffering — maybe you are suffering!” he said. “Because we can make a deal with the others for the same goods, for the same qualities and for the same projects.”
So if Germany’s supporting sanctions harms them more than you why even bother talking about it?
http://www.tehrantimes.com/index_View.asp?code=166536
Iran calls for expanding ties with Germany
TEHRAN, Apr. 18 (MNA)—Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister for European Affairs Mahdi Safari here on Thursday called for expansion of economic and industrial relations with Germany.
Iran and Germany should utilize all their potentials in developing ties especially in economic and industrial sectors, Safari stated at a meeting with State secretary of Germany’s Federal Foreign Office Reinhard Silberberg.
The Islamic Republic’s policy in the sensitive Middle East region is based on maintaining “stability and security”, he said.
Pointing to Iran’s constructive role in helping to establish security in Afghanistan and reconstructing the country, he said Tehran is prepared to share its experiences in this regard with Berlin.
Safari also insisted on the Islamic Republic’s right to use nuclear technology for peaceful uses. He said the remaining questions about Iran’s nuclear activities have been have been fully answered within the framework of Iran’s strategic cooperation with the International Atomic Energy Agency.
Silberberg noted that the two countries enjoy good relations and called for continuation of dialogue between Iranian and German officials.
He said that the row over Iran’s nuclear program should be resolved diplomatically.
Germany’s all about vacation anymore.
ut Germany could export some of the pornographic art it displays in its chicest clubs all full of chrome, marble and mirrors, or even better, go back to its old RAF ways in support of clean, harmless Iranian nuclear energy.
Germany’s printing millions of bumper stickers saying “Nuclear Energy? No Thanks” was just a misunderstanding, see....