US Says Has Asked Germany to 'Help Secure' Strait of Hormuz

The United States has asked Germany to join an international naval mission to help secure the strategic Strait of Hormuz, the US embassy in Berlin said on Tuesday, as tensions mount between Washington and Iran.

The request comes after Britain last week ordered its navy to escort UK-flagged ships in the world's busiest oil shipping lane in response to Iranian soldiers seizing a tanker in the flashpoint entrance to the Gulf.

"We've formally asked Germany to join France and the UK to help secure the Strait of Hormuz and combat Iranian aggression," said a statement by embassy spokeswoman Tamara Sternberg-Greller.

"Members of the German government have been clear that freedom of navigation should be protected... Our question is, protected by whom?"

Long-simmering tensions have spiked between Tehran and Washington since US President Donald Trump unilaterally withdrew from the Iran nuclear deal last year and reimposed biting sanctions on the Islamic republic.

The US and Gulf powerhouse Saudi Arabia have since accused Iran of being behind multiple mysterious attacks on tankers in the Gulf in June, which Iran denies.

Iran also shot down an unmanned US aircraft in June, after which Trump announced that he had called off retaliatory air strikes at the last minute because the resulting death toll would have been too high.

Since then a series of incidents involving oil tankers have heightened tensions.

The US request to NATO ally Germany is highly controversial in the country, where many politicians fear any naval mission, especially one led by the United States, could heighten the risk of conflict and drag European powers into a war.

Berlin has been clear it rejects Trump's strategy of "maximum pressure" on Iran.

Britain detained an Iranian tanker off its overseas territory of Gibraltar in early July on allegations it was breaching EU sanctions on Syria.

In what many read as a tit-for-tat move, Iran's Revolutionary Guards two weeks later impounded a British-flagged tanker in the Strait of Hormuz.

Britain said last week it was planning a European-led protection force there, but has since suggested such a mission should involve the United States.

Photo: Wikicommons

Volkswagen Won't Confirm Claim it Will Quit Iran

Story re-filed by AFP with new headline, text.

Car giant Volkswagen declined Thursday to confirm a claim by American ambassador to Germany Richard Grenell that it would stop doing business in Iran.

Grenell—known for stirring up controversy in his host country with public sallies on business and politics—told Bloomberg News VW would wind up most business with Iran after weeks of talks with President Donald Trump's administration.

The German behemoth had announced in July 2017 that it would begin selling its own-brand cars in Iran for the first time in 17 years.

A spokesman for the Wolfsburg-based carmaker told AFP it was sticking to its long-standing position that it "obeys all national and international laws as well as export regulations".

"We are also taking into account possible effects related to the reintroduction of US sanctions," he added.

A source familiar with the talks told AFP that VW and the US government had not yet reached a final accord.

Even if it fully complies with US sanctions, VW will still be able to do some business in Iran under a "humanitarian exception", Bloomberg reported.

In May, Trump pulled the US out of the deal it reached with Iran and five other countries in 2015. That accord lifted sanctions against Tehran in exchange for restrictions on its nuclear program.

Now, the US is reimposing those sanctions, and Grenell has this month tweeted to celebrate chemicals heavyweight BASF and reinsurance giant Munich Re saying they would comply with the trade squeeze.

A spokesman for BASF told AFP Thursday that it "will continue to do business in Iran and obey all legal rules and regulations."

He added that "around half" the 80 million euros ($93.5 million) in revenue BASF earned in Iran last year came from sectors—energy, automobiles and petrochemicals—affected by American sanctions.

The Ludwigshafen-based group's business with the country represents a tiny fraction of its 64.5 billion euros in annual turnover.

Meanwhile Munich Re has said it would withdraw from Iran in case of sanctions so as not to risk its much larger US activities.

European governments are battling to find ways for their firms to continue trading with Iran, hoping to keep Tehran from renewing its pursuit of nuclear weapons.

Last week, the German government confirmed to AFP that Berlin, Paris and London were considering a scheme that would allow Iran to ship goods to European Union countries and receive others in return—without transferring money through international financial channels vulnerable to US sanctions.

Unusually outspoken for a diplomat, Ambassador Grenell irked his German hosts immediately following his arrival in Berlin earlier this year.

In one of his first interviews after taking office, he pressured German firms to withdraw from business with Iran and said he aimed to "empower" anti-establishment conservatives around Europe—drawing accusations of meddling in his host country's politics.

Photo Credit: VAG

Germany Warns US Iran Sanctions Could Cause 'Chaos'

German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas warned Wednesday that US President Donald Trump's decision to reimpose sanctions on Iran could further destabilise the Middle East and boost radical forces in the region.

Trump brought back the punishing sanctions after unilaterally pulling out of a landmark 2015 deal between Tehran and Western powers to halt Iran's nuclear ambitions.

"We still think that it is a mistake to give up on the nuclear accord with
Iran," Maas said in an interview with the daily Passauer Neue Presse.

"We are fighting for the deal because it also serves our purpose by bringing about security and transparency in the region."

Noting Iran's geographic proximity to Europe, Maas warned that "anyone who's hoping for regime change must not forget that whatever follows could bring us much bigger problems."

"Isolating Iran could boost radical and fundamentalist forces," he said, adding that "chaos in Iran, as we have experienced in Iraq or Libya, would further destabilize an already troubled region."

In a desperate bid to save the nuclear accord, European governments have pledged to do what they can to keep business links with Tehran.

Despite the political will to hold firm, many large European firms such as German automaker Daimler are leaving Iran for fear of US penalties.

The US ambassador to Germany, Richard Grenell, welcomed the news.

"We are pleased to see German businesses stopping their trade with Iran, complying with U.S. sanctions, and helping pressure the Iranian regime back to the table," he tweeted.  

"We stand together to stop Iran's malign activities."

Photo Credit: Wikicommons