Iran and the 27 members of the European Union traded a total of €2.58 billion worth of goods during the first seven months of 2021 (January-July), to register a 2.61% decline compared with the previous year's corresponding period.
Iran's trade with European states also declined by 19% year-on-year in July to hit €334.59 million.
Figures extracted from Eurostat's datasets show Germany remained the top trading partner of Iran during the seven months under review, as the two countries exchanged €1.01 billion worth of goods, 7.05% less than the corresponding period of the year before.
Italy came next with €347.96 million worth of trade with Iran. A year-on-year comparison of the figures indicates a 10.97% decline in trade between Iran and Italy.
The Netherlands with €264.48 million (down 9.23%), Spain with €178.33 million (up 9.25%) and Belgium with €140.14 million (up 6.79%) were Iran's other major European trading partners.
Estonia registered the highest growth of 709.52% in trade with Iran during the seven months under review. Malta with 471.77%, Romania with 284.86% and Croatia with 169.12% came next.
Eurostat is a directorate of the European Commission located in Luxembourg. Its main responsibilities are to provide statistical information to EU institutions and promote the harmonization of statistical methods across its member states and candidates for accession. Organizations in different countries that cooperate with Eurostat are summarized under the concept of European Statistical System.
Iran exported €475.75 million worth of commodities to EU during the seven-month period, indicating an 8.08% growth compared with the similar period of the previous year.
Germany with €162.38 million, Italy with €96 million, Spain with €48 million, Romania with €35 million and Bulgaria with €22 million were the main export destinations.
The country exported €68.56 million worth of goods to EU partners in July, down 25.68% YOY.
Iran’s imports from the EU declined by 4.74% YOY to €2.1 billion during the seven-month period under review. Germany accounted for the largest share of exports worth €847.65 million to Iran, down 7.96%, followed by Italy (€251.96 million), Netherlands (€245.81 million), Spain (€130.3 million) and Belgium (€117.9 million).
Imports from the green continent declined by 19% to €334.59 million during the seventh month of the year.
Trade between Iran and 27 EU member states in 2020 stood at €4.24 billion to register a 13.35% decline compared with €4.89 billion in 2019.
Iran exported €618.03 million worth of commodities to EU during the 12-month period, indicating a 7.18% fall compared with €665.8 million in 2019. Its imports from EU dropped by 14.32% to stand at €3.62 billion during 2020.
Importance of JCPOA Revival
Trade between Iran and the EU gained momentum after Tehran signed the nuclear deal with world powers in 2015. The deal known as Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action saw years of international sanctions against the Islamic Republic lifted. In exchange, the country agreed to limit the scope of its nuclear program. JCPOA was implemented in 2016.
However, in 2018, Washington unilaterally quit JCPOA that it had signed with five other countries and Iran. The US then reimposed sanctions against Tehran, leading to a decline in Iran’s trade with other countries, including the EU.
The new US government led by Joe Biden has sought to renegotiate since April to revive the nuclear deal that will see international sanctions on Iran lifted.
European Union foreign policy chief, Josep Borrell, met Iran's new Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian on Tuesday on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly, the EU said in a statement on Wednesday.
The meeting was scheduled in the absence of a ministerial meeting of the parties to the 2015 nuclear deal in New York during the annual UN gathering of world leaders, Reuters reported.
"The Iranian Foreign Minister assured of the willingness to resume negotiations at an early date," the EU said in a statement. "High Representative Borrell ... underlined once again the great importance of a quick resumption of the Vienna talks."
The world powers have held six rounds of indirect talks between the United States and Iran in Vienna, Austria, to work out how both can return to compliance with the nuclear pact.
“Iran seeks a resumption of nuclear talks with world powers to lead to the removal of US sanctions,” Iranian President Ebrahim Raeisi told the annual UN General Assembly.
“The Islamic Republic considers useful talks whose ultimate outcome is the lifting of all oppressive sanctions," he added.
US President Joe Biden also indicated an interest in turning a page on US-Iranian relations during his first address to the UN General Assembly.
“We are working with P5+1 to engage Iran diplomatically and seek a return to the JCPOA. We're prepared to return to full compliance if Iran does the same,” he said.
Iran said on Tuesday that talks with world powers over reviving its 2015 nuclear deal would resume in a few weeks, IRNA reported.
"Every meeting requires prior coordination and the preparation of an agenda. As previously emphasized, the Vienna talks will resume soon and over the next few weeks," Iranian Foreign Ministry Spokesman Saeed Khatibzadeh said,
