German rail operator Deutsche Bahn and Deutsche Telekom are ending projects in Iran after Washington imposed new sanctions against Tehran and said firms doing business with Iran would be barred from doing business with the United States.
New US sanctions against Iran took effect last week and several European companies have suspended plans to invest in Iran in light of the US sanctions, including oil major Total as well as carmakers PSA, Renault and Daimler, Reuters reported.
State-owned Deutsche Bahn is involved in two projects in Iran via its subsidiary DB Engineering and Consulting, a spokeswoman said on Thursday.
“Both projects will be ended in August and September 2018 respectively,” she said. “Due to the altered banking practice, we have sought to bring the contract to an amicable and timely conclusion.”
The spokeswoman further said Deutsche Bahn signed a memorandum of understanding with the Iranian rail operator Bonyad Eastern Railways (BonRail) in May 2017 for the first project, which aimed to identify and address potential in rolling stock and organization.
The second project, which started around 1-1/2 years ago, was a consulting contract for state-owned Islamic Republic of Iran Railways that included restructuring the company, she added.
Separately, Detecon, a subsidiary of T-Systems-Deutsche Telekom’s IT services arm-has terminated its business in Iran, a spokesman said. Detecon offers consulting services to companies in the telecommunications industry.
“Until the decision to stop operations was made, sales in Iran in 2018 amounted to around 300,000 euros,” he said.
“Given the sensitivity in relations with Iran worldwide, Detecon ended its business in Iran with immediate effect in mid-May 2018.”
The ending of Telekom’s involvement in Iran followed soon after the announcement that its US unit, T-Mobile, would buy Sprint Corp in a $26 billion deal that remains subject to the approval of US regulators.
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