Sanctions? What Sanctions? German-Iranian Trade Booms
Banks and businesses blacklisted by the U.S. are embraced by the Germans.
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While the United States reacts to reports that Iran had enriched enough uranium for a nuclear weapon with concern and calls for tighter sanctions, in Germany it is business as usual.
Today, many of the leading lights of German-Iranian trade will be meeting at a conference in Hamburg in order to discuss how further to promote the “success” of German business with Iran.
The title of the conference is “Iran Sanctions: Practical Consequence for German Firms.” The organizer is the Hamburg-based German-Iranian Chamber of Commerce, which was founded in 1936 and resumed its activities in 1952 with largely the same personnel as before. The Chamber of Commerce continues to work with the Iranian Saderat Bank: a bank that was blacklisted by the United States in September 2006 on account of its relations with terrorist groups like Hezbollah, Hamas and Islamic Jihad.
“Even in these difficult times,” the conference announcement states, the Chamber of Commerce wants to “support” German firms “developing markets in Iran”: “We would be delighted if we could thus contribute to the success of your business with Iran.”
The list of conference participants reads like a “Who’s Who” of German-Iranian trade relations.
Norbert Eisenmenger, for instance, will be speaking on the “current economic situation.” He is the managing director of the European-Iranian Commerce Bank (EIH). As its latest report notes, the bank closed out 2007 “with record earnings yet again”: “Net profit doubled…, the volume of transactions increased by 35%.” The EIH Bank employs some 75 persons at its headquarters in Hamburg and has offices in Iran both in Tehran and on Kish Island. Eisenmenger is also one of the two managing directors of the German-Iranian Chamber of Commerce.
The topic “Financing Iranian business deals” will be covered by Sabine Hummerich. Ms. Hummerich appears at the conference as the representative of Bank Melli Iran. Bank Melli is fully-owned by the Iranian regime. The 2007-2008 report of Bank Melli’s German subsidiary in Hamburg notes that “On balance, yields developed in a clearly positive direction and led to a record results.” Net income thus increased by 33% as compared to the previous year.
In June 2008, the European Union placed sanctions on Bank Melli.
Ms. Sissi Gerstenkorn will be representing the insurance company Euler Hermes and speaking about export credit guarantees for Iran via the German government’s “Hermes” program.
Matthias Küntzel is a Hamburg-based political scientist and the author of Jihad and Jew-Hatred: Islamism, Nazism and the Roots of 9/11. More of his writings are available in English here .
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30 Comments
1. vb:Isn’t it odd that these kinds of things never make the cover of Der Spiegel?
Nov 27, 2008 - 5:24 am 2. David P:Leave it to the Germans to conspire with the Iranians against the Jews in a Holocaust II sequel, with the entire United Nations as an accessory. Israel has only one option if it wishes to avoid the scenario of a nuclear assault by a myopic and suicidal regime whose soul purpose for nuclear nohow is to “destroy the Zionist entity.”
Nov 27, 2008 - 6:17 am 3. Will Becker:What does this tell us,could it be sanctions don’t work? Wake up America.
Nov 27, 2008 - 6:31 am 4. Mary Grabar:Wow! Great reporting. Looks like the old Nazi machine is gearing up again in this “multicultural” nation.
Nov 27, 2008 - 6:34 am 5. Sanctions? What Sanctions? - Conservative Republican Discussion Forums:[...] reasons we need to care about what the rest of the world thinks of us……………………. Pajamas Media
Nov 27, 2008 - 8:06 am 6. Saltherring:Remember, Germany is one of the nations the liberals refer to as “our allies”. I would stand with Poland any day before Germany or France.
Nov 27, 2008 - 8:20 am 7. WestGuard:Germany is a disgrace to the West and the civiized world. At a time when the world should be doing everything it can to shut down and destroy the terrorist iranian regime, Germany is gleefully sucking up to and enabling irans terrorists goals. What a disappointment Germany has turned out to be.
Nov 27, 2008 - 8:22 am 8. goy:This was of course the same dynamic we dealt with as Saddam was building up his weapons programs - for which the world has universally blamed the U.S.
Always fascinating how easy it seems to be to rewrite history. Which then seems to …
Lather.
Nov 27, 2008 - 8:55 am 9. Paul T.:Rinse.
Repeat.
Will Becker,
Nov 27, 2008 - 9:46 am 10. Sanctions? What Sanctions? German-Iranian Trade Booms | The Blog of Record:I agree that sanctions DON’T work. I always favor MILITARY ACTION to solve problems with rogue nations….How you feel about that one, Will???? Dove or Hawk? Iran understands one thing, FORCE. They’ve been screwing us since the Carter Administration and it’s time to put a stop to it…..let’s start with authorizing political assinations, again(Yup that
‘ a good start)
[...] Iranian banks and businesses blacklisted by the U.S. are embraced by the Germans. [...]
Nov 27, 2008 - 10:10 am 11. Hyphenated American:I think Israel should start giving helping hand to some rebels inside Germany. I remember those guys had Red Army that was blowing up things in Germany. Well, time to get better relationship with their remnants. After all, lets become more multi-cultural.
Nov 27, 2008 - 12:03 pm 12. The Rosett Report » Today’s Terror in Bombay and Tomorrow’s Iranian Bomb:[...] Union. The only real squeeze has come from the U.S. Treasury, which, as noted on Pajamas by Matthias Kuntzel, faces such obstacles as gross disregard by many of our erstwhile [...]
Nov 27, 2008 - 1:02 pm 13. Eric R.:David P said:
“Israel has only one option if it wishes to avoid the scenario of a nuclear assault by a myopic and suicidal regime whose soul purpose for nuclear nohow is to “destroy the Zionist entity.”
David,
I don’t know exactly what you’re ‘one option’ is, but mine is probably an expansion of yours — Israel must declare that any attack by Iran will be considered an attack by ALL her enemies — Islamic and European — and she will retaliate accordingly.
And if that means taking out Rome, Paris, Brussels and Berlin along with Tehran, Tunis, Damascus and Mecca, then so be it.
Nov 27, 2008 - 4:14 pm 14. larry z:i truly agree with Paul t
Nov 27, 2008 - 5:19 pm 15. vb:I just read a report on this at WSJ. I hope it gets even wider coverage.
Nov 27, 2008 - 7:51 pm 16. Bogdan of Australia:Germans! What a mean and repulsive people they are! They have murdered milions upon milions and sacrificed milions of their own in the agressive, barbaric wars and yet haven’t scarificed even a single life for the freedom of others. They have morphed from the nation of mass-murderers into the nation of cowards, back-stabbers, false friends and worthless allies. I used to be an enthusiastic germanophile, I’ve worked in Germany, I speak German, I’ve always admired German culture, Architecture, organisation and punctuality, and I used to have lots of German friends. No more! Even Angela Merkel has allowed hersef to be brainwashed by the German Leftists. The only honest individuals left in Germany are probably the author of the above article and a gentleman with the name of Mathias Doepfner, the chief editor of the Springer Publishing empire. Mr Doepfner has always been a staunch defender of America and George Bush. In 2005 he wrote a beautiful and courageous article “Europe Thy Name is Cowardice”. That’s all positive I can say about Germany now. Shame on you Germans!
Nov 27, 2008 - 10:48 pm 17. Anonymous:So, Eric R, Bosch selling washing machines to housewives in Tehran means that Israel should nuke Berlin, Paris and Brussels?
It’s a good job that extremists like you have no political power or we’d all be screwed. Thankfully Israel is more sensible than you.
Iran’s major trade partners are actually China, India, Germany, South Korea, Japan, France, Russia and Italy. So presumably the people of Beijing, Hong Kong, Shanghai, Mumbai, Dehli, Calcutta, Seoul, Tokyo, Osaka and Moscow also deserve to die by your twisted logic.
Nov 28, 2008 - 12:25 am 18. Anonymous:Mary Grabar:
“Wow! Great reporting. Looks like the old Nazi machine is gearing up again in this “multicultural” nation.”
Get real Mary, a small trade conference does not herald the coming of the fourth reich.
Nov 28, 2008 - 12:29 am 19. Andrew Lale:‘reasons we need to care about what the rest of the world thinks of us’. I thought the sanctions against Iran were UN sanctions? What your really meant to say was, ‘reasons the UN needs to care what the world thinks of it’. And we all know from the Oil-for-Food pigtrough what the Germans (and French and Russians) think of the UN- its very easy to ignore and/or utilise for anti-American, pro-German activities. Apparently, German businessmen don’t have the same PR problems that say British and American businessmen have. The world doesn’t care if they materially assist Iran in becoming a nuclearised dictatorship.
Nov 28, 2008 - 3:29 am 20. fnord:Disgrace to the West? Mean and repulsive people? A disappointment? Thanks a lot, that’s really helpful. We all are facing a western-wide corrosion of our values through cultural relativism, brought to us by irrational and self-hating left-liberals who control large parts of the educational system, parts of media and government. Especially in Germany more and more people get aware of that and try to turn the tide, but it takes time to regain determinative authority in public discussion. Particulary when you are bludgeoned down instantly by the opinion formers from the left, if you raise your voice in a truly liberal-minded or conservative way. Not to mention if you suggest that it could be better to replace checkbook-diplomacy with a big stick.
Godwins law always works when it comes to Germany. It’s shopworn and lame. Cool down.
Best regards from Germany!
fnord
@Bogdan: Nachdem ich deine Worte gelesen habe, freue ich mich, dass Du hochgebildeter Welterklärer nicht mehr in meinem Lande lebst - komme bitte nie wieder. Vielen Dank für nichts.
Nov 28, 2008 - 5:56 am 21. Israpundit » Blog Archive » JCPA accuses Norway and Seeden of antisemitism.:[...] Willoch, who presided as Norway’s prime minister in the 1980s, told a Norwegian daily. [Sanctions? What Sanctions? German-Iranian Trade Booms. Banks and businesses blacklisted by the U.S. are embraced by the [...]
Nov 28, 2008 - 7:16 am 22. Steynian 291 « Free Canuckistan!:[...] SELLING OURSELVES OUT: Sanctions? What Sanctions? German-Iranian Trade Booms; Germany Does Not Ban Hezbollah TV …. [...]
Nov 28, 2008 - 8:26 am 23. cedarford:Anonymous:
So, Eric R, Bosch selling washing machines to housewives in Tehran means that Israel should nuke Berlin, Paris and Brussels?
It’s a good job that extremists like you have no political power or we’d all be screwed. Thankfully Israel is more sensible than you.
Iran’s major trade partners are actually China, India, Germany, South Korea, Japan, France, Russia and Italy. So presumably the people of Beijing, Hong Kong, Shanghai, Mumbai, Dehli, Calcutta, Seoul, Tokyo, Osaka and Moscow also deserve to die by your twisted logic.
Concur.
Anonymous doesn’t get into consequences, and fortunately Israel is far more sensible than a punk kid like Eric R. shooting his mouth off, but if such an attack on the West, China, Japan, Russia was ever undertaken - you have 5-6 nuclear powers bound by treaty and UN-endorsed right to self-defense, free to legally retaliate with the most extreme of measures.
Then in the aftermath, there would be the matter of what portion of the wealth of overseas supporters of Israel would have to be seized for reparations. Even matters of continued citizenship for supporters of Israel and what level of safety they would be afforded.
Even in America. Do not think that even here, wiping out our NATO ally’s cities - of people America has long and fond links with, plus the impact of what destroying Rome would have in a Christian religious context - would be anything but catastrophic for Jews, even Christian Zionists.
Supporters of Israel would not escape the harshest of consequences from a virulently angry American public.
Nov 28, 2008 - 8:34 am 24. Eric R.:Cedarford,
If Israel were nuked, she is gone. It would be a second Holocaust. There would be no consequences in that case to Israel to an obliteration of Europe.
Because there would be no Israel left to have consequences.
As for Americans being angry, given the disgust with conservative and centrist Americans with Europe, I think only our politically correct leftist elites would shed a tear over a continent that betrayed the USA and that never got over its irrational hatred of the Jews.
Nov 28, 2008 - 10:02 am 25. myth buster:And God will defend Israel regardless of what anybody else thinks.
Nov 28, 2008 - 3:03 pm 26. cedarford:myth buster:
And God will defend Israel regardless of what anybody else thinks.
Phew! Then I guess we can wash our hands of them knowing Yahweh will look after their butts like he did against the Romans or in WWII!
***********
Eric R.:
Cedarford,
If Israel were nuked, she is gone. It would be a second Holocaust. There would be no consequences in that case to Israel to an obliteration of Europe.
But there would be huge consequences to Jews outside Israel. Those backers of Zionism would be hunted down like rabid dogs, on a global basis, if the Zionists nuked Europe, Russia, America, or Mecca..
Nov 28, 2008 - 9:14 pm 27. Anat:Dr. Kuentzel, you are a true and courageous fighter for truth, peace and justice.
Nov 28, 2008 - 11:45 pm 28. Eric R.:I apologize for all those who, in some of the previous comments, lumped all Germans together. They obviously forgot that you too is a German. Moreover, I know for fact that you are not alone.
I think the Israeli government should eventually give you some kind of decoration.
Cedarford,
The world wide hunting down of Jews would occur with ANY retaliation by Israel, even if nukes are limited only to the Middle East.
Even such an Israeli attack would destroy much of the world’s oil infrastructure, and a collapse of the world economy, impoverishing the entire world. That would cause the same desire to punish the Jews — plus you would have 1+ billion Muslims, already infected with a crazed genocidal hatred of Jews, wanting revenge for 100 million dead co-religionists.
And while your responses here indicate that you think that the answer if for Israel and the Jews to do nothing and go quietly to extermination once again, not even a wimpy Labour government would do that.
So if doomed, Israel should take as many of its enemies down as possible.
Nov 29, 2008 - 2:49 am 29. David P:Eric R, cedarford,
It’s up the United States to quell Iran’s impure nuclear ambitions when all diplomatic options have been exhausted, if we don’t, we fail. The USA will not reside comfortably in the future staring down a nuclear Tehran.
Preemptive fallout on all levels greatly outweigh the atrocities of a crude and even marginally successful nuclear campaign.
Do the Mullahs really think they don’t have to play by the rules of humanity?
Yes - with the U.N. behaving as both an accessory & platform for their intended crimes
Nov 30, 2008 - 2:40 pm 30. naftali:I posted here a few weeks ago and someone warned me not to even respond to Cedarford. Just another heads up.
That said, I think Germany’s policy is more an indication of Europe’s profound economic weakness. Germany have never had raw materials, and since the industrial revolution they were never as successful as they needed to be in developing colonies. It’s impossible to run a modern industrial capitalist society without trade and raw materials. This is a fundamental problem with all of Europe–because they aren’t as committed to freedom and democracy, or capitalism for that matter, as other nations. Their treaties and agreements are only as strong as their currencies.
This should tell the US that the old Cold War Alliances are quite fragile, drawn with dotted lines. India is a more important alliance, so is Brazil, not to mention Israel, with its advances in technology and discoveries in science and medicine.
Cedarford better hope he doesn’t get sick, because somewhere along the line of treatment, he will benefit from the production of Israel.
Regarding a Iran’s nukes–international politics is more of a game of white knuckle survival rather than mutual friendship. Israel will do what it needs to do. Stalin had a plan to continue the Holocaust–had the camps built and everything. As many know, he suffered a debilitating stroke on Purim and died a few days later. The plan was never activated.
Dec 2, 2008 - 11:54 am