Iran and the European Union’s 27 member states traded €2.99 billion worth of goods in the first seven months of 2022, registering a 15.43% rise compared with last year's corresponding period.
New data released by Eurostat show Germany was the top trading partner of Iran in the EU region during the period, as the two countries exchanged over €1.05 billion worth of goods, 3.84% more than in the similar period of the year before.
Italy came next with €381.67 million worth of trade with Iran to register a 9.69% year-on-year rise.
The Netherlands with €241.36 million (down 9.18%) and Spain with €210.28 million (up 17.89%) were Iran's other major European trade partners.
Bulgaria registered the highest growth of 64.26% in trade with Iran during the period under review and was followed by France with 61.37%.
Bilateral trade grew by 17.23% in July to hit €405.64 million.
Germany with €266.87 million, Italy with €57.48 million, France with €57.13 million, the Netherlands with €32.22 million, and Spain with €26.34 million were Iran’s top trading partners in July.
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 €639.45 million worth of goods to the EU in the seven months of 2022, indicating a 34.18% year-on-year rise.
Germany with €173.52 million, Italy with €102.37 million, Spain with €77.85 million, Romania with €59.24 million and Bulgaria with €53.92 million were Iran’s main export destinations.
Iran exported €84.83 million worth of goods to EU partners in July, up 23.11% YOY.
The main export destinations included Germany (€266.63 million), Spain (€11.93 million), Italy (€11.11 million), Bulgaria (€8.73 million) and Belgium (€6.47 million).
Germany was the top trading partner of Iran in the EU region during the period, as the two countries exchanged over €1.05 billion worth of goods, 3.84% more than in the similar period of the year before
Iran’s imports from the EU member states during the seven months grew by 11.21% YOY to €2.35 billion. Germany accounted for the largest share of exports with €885.25 million, up 3.35% YOY, followed by Italy (€279.3 million), the Netherlands (€203.69 million) and France (€195.93 million).
Imports from the EU grew by 15.77% YOY to €320.8 million in July.
Iran and the European states traded €4.86 billion worth of goods in 2021, registering a 9.09% growth compared with the year before. Iran exported €922.04 million worth of commodities to EU last year, indicating a 29.32% rise. Its imports from the EU member states grew by 5.24% YOY to €3.94 billion.
Bilateral trade 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, 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.
Two-way trade 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.
The government of US President Joe Biden has been attempting to revive JCPOA.
The deal appeared near revival in March.
But indirect talks between Tehran and Washington then broke down over several issues.
There has been no sign that Tehran and Washington will manage to overcome their impasse, Reuters reported on Friday, adding that Iran is expected to use the U.N. General Assembly to keep the diplomatic ball rolling by repeating its willingness to reach a sustainable deal.
“President Joe Biden cannot provide the ironclad assurances Iran seeks because the deal is a political understanding rather than a legally binding treaty.”
Tehran would be serious about reviving a deal on its nuclear program if there were guarantees the United States would not again withdraw from it, Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi said in an interview broadcast last week.
Last month, Iran's foreign minister said Tehran needed stronger guarantees from Washington for the revival of the 2015 deal and urged the UN atomic watchdog to drop its "politically motivated probes" of Tehran's nuclear work.
Speaking to the CBS show 60 Minutes in an interview conducted last Tuesday, Raisi said, "If it’s a good deal and fair deal, we would be serious about reaching an agreement."
In his remarks ahead of a visit to the United Nations General Assembly in New York this week, Raisi added, "It needs to be lasting. There need to be guarantees. If there were a guarantee, then the Americans could not withdraw from the deal."
He said the Americans had broken their promises on the deal, under which Tehran had restrained its nuclear program in exchange for relief from US, European Union and UN economic sanctions.
"They did it unilaterally. They said that, 'I am out of the deal.' Now making promises is becoming meaningless," he said.
"We cannot trust the Americans because of the behavior that we have already seen from them. That is why if there is no guarantee, there is no trust."
