Iran and the European Union’s 27 member states traded €1.33 billion worth of goods in the first three months of 2022, registering a 22% growth compared with last year's corresponding period.
Data released by Eurostat's database show Germany was the top trading partner of Iran in the EU region during the period, as the two countries exchanged €504.54 million worth of goods, 15.64% higher than the year before.
Italy came next with €154.83 million worth of trade with Iran. A year-on-year comparison of trade volume indicates a 4.8% growth.
The Netherlands with €109.2 million (down 16.57%) and Spain with €98.82 million (up 31.87%) were Iran's other major European trade partners.
Romania registered the highest growth of 89.67% in trade with Iran during the period under review and was followed by Croatia with 79.95%.
Bilateral trade grew by 28.28% in March to hit €491.68 million.
Germany with €190.5 million, Italy with €57.87 million, Romania with €46.73 million, the Netherlands with €46.25 million and Spain with €31.99 million were Iran’s top trading partners in March.
A directorate of the European Commission located in Luxembourg, Eurostat’s 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 €274.99 million worth of commodities to EU during the three months, indicating a 38.82% growth year-on-year.
Germany with €88.62 million, Italy with €42.19 million, the Netherlands with €18.48 million, Spain with €35.46 million and Romania with €19.13 million were Iran’s main export destinations.
Iran exported €106.28 million worth of goods to EU partners in March, up 40.03% YOY.
The main export destinations included Germany (€31.59 million), Italy (€13.69 million), Spain (€16.6 million), the Netherlands (€8.96 million) and Romania (€8.46 million).
Iran’s imports from the EU member states during the period grew by 18.26% YOY to €1.05 billion. Germany accounted for the largest share of exports with €415.92 million, up 14.1% YOY, followed by Italy (€112.63 million), the Netherlands (€90.72 million) and Spain (€63.36 million).
Imports from the EU grew by 25.38% YOY to €385.4 million in March.
Trade in Review
Iran and the European states traded €4.86 billion worth of goods in 2021, registering a 9.09% growth compared with the year before.
The country exported €922.04 million worth of commodities to EU during the period, indicating a 29.32% growth year-on-year. Its imports from the EU member states grew by 5.24% YOY to €3.94 billion.
Trade between Iran and EU member states stood at €4.24 billion in 2020 to register a 13.35% decline compared with €4.89 billion in 2019.
Iran exported €618.03 million worth of commodities to EU last year, indicating a 7.18% fall compared with €665.8 million in 2019. Its imports from EU dropped by 14.32% to reach €3.62 billion.
Trade between Iran and EU gained momentum after Tehran signed the nuclear deal with six world powers in 2015. The deal, formally known as the 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 foreign trade, including with the EU.
UN Special Rapporteur Calls for Lifting of US Sanctions
The complex set of unilateral sanctions against Iran, coupled with secondary sanctions against third-parties, over-compliance and zero-risk policies by businesses and financial institutions, exacerbate humanitarian and economic challenges and negatively affect the lives of people, particularly the most vulnerable, a UN human rights expert said.
At the end of a 12-day visit to Iran, Alena Douhan, the special rapporteur, also referred to the negative impact of the unilateral coercive measures on the enjoyment of human rights. She recounted disturbing accounts from patients suffering from rare diseases and people with disabilities on the challenges they faced in accessing medicines and assistive equipment, the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights wrote on its website.
“I am gravely concerned about the life-threating consequences of the high costs and in certain cases complete absence of specialized medicines and medical equipment due to sanctions-induced trade and financial restrictions, as well as due to reported foreign companies’ reluctance to supply these goods for fear of consequences, including possible criminal prosecution and financial penalties,” Douhan said.
“Sanctions imposed on Iran’s key economic sectors and designation of its financial institutions, along with numerous national companies, have led to a severe drop of state revenues, inflation, growing poverty rates and scarcity of resources to guarantee the basic needs of those most in need.”
In a statement, the special rapporteur highlighted several other areas impacted by the combination of unilateral sanctions and over-compliance, including but not limited to the preservation and further development of essential infrastructure; the difficulties to expand social support programs in the context of rising prices and unemployment rates, including in support of the growing population of Afghan refugees; impediments in the business and industrial development due to absence of raw materials, inability to process international payments and restrictions in accessing new technologies.
Douhan noted that the deterioration of environmental security; challenges regarding natural disaster prevention, response and recovery, due to the ban on imports of specialized equipment and humanitarian provisions; rising challenges in the operations of international and local non-governmental organizations and humanitarian actors; obstacles to Iran’s engagement in international cooperation, including in the academia, arts and cultural heritage, sports, and its overall engagement with international organizations and associations due to travel bans and the inability to process payments of membership fees also pose problems.
The UN human rights expert expressed concerns that unilateral US sanctions as a punitive action violate, at the very least, obligations arising from universal and regional human rights instruments, many of which have a peremptory character, including procedural guarantees and presumption of innocence.
“States have an obligation under international human rights law to guarantee that any activity under their jurisdiction or control does not result in human rights violations, and in this regard I call on sanctioning states, in particular the United States, to observe the principles and norms of international law, including with regard to the peaceful settlement of international disputes and to lift all unilateral measures, in particular on those areas affecting the human rights and the lives of all the people in Iran,” she said.
Other recommendations addressed the issue of over-compliance by businesses and financial institutions; access to information and new technologies; enhanced engagement by international organizations for humanitarian purposes; unfreezing of the foreign assets of Iranian financial institutions; multi-stakeholder discussions toward the development of guiding principles on secondary sanctions and human rights, as well as possible mechanisms for redress, remedy and compensation.
Despite the government’s efforts and measures to mitigate the negative impact of UCMs in different sectors, especially for the most vulnerable population categories, sanctions-induced economic hardships coupled with the persistent effects of the Covid-19 pandemic have multifaceted and cumulative effects in all walks of life, she added.
The special rapporteur stressed that while Iran’s measures reduced the direct impact on human rights, it shall not be used as a ground to legitimize and legalize the use of unilateral sanctions.
Douhan met representatives from national and local government institutions, non-governmental organizations, associations, humanitarian actors, businesses, UN entities, academia as well as the diplomatic community. In addition to the capital Tehran, she also visited Karaj and Isfahan.
The special rapporteur will present a report to the Human Rights Council in September 2022.
