Germany–Iran relations

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Iranian–German relations
Map indicating locations of Iran and Germany




History of relations[edit]

The Qajar era[edit]

Even before diplomatic ties, unofficial relations had already taken root between the two nations. Goethe's dedication of his West-östlicher Divan (West-Eastern Divan) to Hafez in 1819 is an illustration of how far back such cultural ties[2] went.


Germany, which had largely remained out of The Great Game consequently gradually established itself as such a candidate by the second half of the 19th century. During the establishment of Iran's first modern university, Amir Kabir for example, preferred the hiring of Austrian and German teachers as faculty for Darolfonoon.[3] Even King Nasereddin Shah himself supported the idea of using Germans to serve as Darolfonoon's faculty, despite political pressures to the contrary.[4] In this regard, it is even written that the Chancellor always showed interest in discussing the structural system of Germany's government and society as a model for modernizing his country.[5]

During the Constitutionalist movement of Guilan, German soldiers were actively involved in training the popular army of Mirza Kuchak Khan.[6] Mirza's field commander was a German officer by the name Major Von Pashen who had joined the Jangal movement after being released by them from the British prison in Rasht. He was Mirza's closest ally. Another famous German agent in Persia (especially during World War I) was Wilhelm Wassmuss, nicknamed the "German Lawrence".


The first Pahlavi era and Nazi Germany[edit]

Hassan Esfandiary, and Mussa Nuri Esfandiari Iranian ambassador to the German Reich meeting Adolf Hitler

The shelling of Iran's parliament by the Russians, and the signing of the 1919 Treaty, firmly planted the roots of suspicion against Britain and Russia. This was while many people were aware of Wilhelm II's speech in Damascus in 1898 calling on all Muslims to rely on him as a true friend.[7]

By the early 1930s, Reza Pahlavi's close ties with Nazi Germany began worrying the Allied states.[8][not in citation given] Germany's modern state and economy highly impressed the Shah, and there were hundreds of Germans involved in every aspect of the state, from setting up factories to building roads, railroads and bridges.[9]


From 1939 to 1941 Iran's top foreign trade partner (nearly 50% of its total trade) was Germany, which helped Iran open modern sea and air communications with the rest of the world.[12]

In 1941, the Allies forced Reza Shah to abdicate the throne to his son, Mohammad Reza Pahlavi. His pro-Nazi followers in the Iranian government such as Fazlollah Zahedi [13] and Mohammad Hosein Airom shared similar fates. The British believed that Zahedi was planning a general uprising in cooperation with German forces. He was arrested, where he was found with German weapons and correspondence from a German agent. He was interned in Palestine.


The second Pahlavi era[edit]




As the European country with the largest Iranian expatriate community, the Shah's visits to West Germany became the focus of much protest in the 1970s. As repression in Iran became more intense, these demonstrations became more vigorous. Many of Iran's intellectual ayatollahs, such as Ayatollah Beheshti, in fact spent some years in cities like Hamburg.

After 1979[edit]

Iranian Consulate in Hamburg. There are a reported 100,000 Iranians living in Germany.


Although West Germany was a key technology supplier to Saddam Hussein during the Iran-Iraq war, especially to Saddam's chemical weapons program,[15][16][17] Germany also kept open relations with Iran in some industrial and civilian technological sectors.

After the war, Germany increasingly became a primary trading partner of Iran, and is still Iran's biggest trading partner, with German goods worth about 3.6 billion euros being imported into Iran in 2004. It is unclear though how long this situation will last considering the current standoff between Iran and the EU/US axis on Iran's nuclear program.[18]



In 1999, a German, Helmut Hofer, was arrested in Tehran after having an affair with an Iranian woman. This caused some tremors in the domestic political landscape as well as diplomatic relations of Tehran-Berlin.[22]/. This was followed in 2005 when a German angler who was on vacation in the United Arab Emirates was arrested in the Persian Gulf and convicted to a prison sentence of 18 months. In 2009 a German lawyer, Andreas Moser, was arrested during the protests against the 2009 elections; he was released after one week.[23] Also in 2005, hardline Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad stirred relations with comments directed against the Jewish Holocaust.[24]

Current relations[edit]

German Chancellor Angela Merkel said February 4, 2006 on the occasion of the annual Munich Conference on Security Policy that the world must act now to stop Iran from developing a nuclear bomb, evoking her nation's own history as a cautionary tale of what can happen when threats to peace remain unchecked.


Mrs. Merkel, whose speech came on the same day that the International Atomic Energy Agency voted to report Iran's case to the United Nations Security Council, said Germany's own experiences during the 1930s should be a warning over how to deal with Iran.




  • "A president that questions Israel's right to exist, a president that denies the Holocaust, cannot expect to receive any tolerance from Germany," Mrs. Merkel said to applause. "We have learned our history."[citation needed]

In February 2006, relations further soured after a German paper printed a cartoon depicting Iran's national football team strapped with bombs to their jerseys. Iran demanded an apology from Germany for the "immoral act".[25] Student demonstrations followed in protest to the cartoons, chanting "Merkel=Hitler".[26]




In 2005 Germany had the largest share of Iran's export market with $5.67 billion (14.4%).[28] In 2008, German exports to Iran increased 8.9 percent and comprised 84.7 percent of the total German-Iranian trade volume. The overall bilateral trade volume until the end of September 2008 stood at 3.23 billion euros, compared to 2.98 billion euros the previous year.[27][29] The value of trade between Tehran and Berlin has increased from around 4.3 billion euro in 2009 to nearly 4.7 billion euro in 2010.[30]



According to a 2012 BBC World Service poll, only 8% of Germans view Iran's influence positively, with 74% expressing a negative view.[32] According to a 2012 Pew Global Attitudes Survey, 6% of Germans viewed Iran favorably, compared to 91% which viewed it unfavorably; 96% of Germans oppose Iranian acquisition of nuclear weapons and 80% approve of "tougher sanctions" on Iran, while 50% of Germans support use of military force to prevent Iran from developing nuclear weapons.[33] According to a 2013 Gallup poll, Iran is considered by Germans as the second greatest threat to peace in the World (16%), after United States only (17%).[34]

See also[edit]


  1. ^ German-Persian Diplomatic Relations, 1873–1912. Bradford G. Martin. 1959.
  2. ^ The Influence of India and Persia on the Poetry of Germany. Arthur Frank Joseph Remy. 1901. Columbia University Press. MacMillan.
  3. ^ قهرمانان ملی ایران. Vol 3. عبدالرفیع حقیقت (A. Haghighat). 2004. p.77, 81
  4. ^ As quoted by J. Polak in: قهرمانان ملی ایران. Vol 3. عبدالرفیع حقیقت (A. Haghighat). 2004. p84
  7. ^ Sidelights on Germany. Michael A. Morrison. 1918. p.80
  8. ^ "Iran (02/08)". 2012-08-22. Retrieved 2013-05-20. 
  9. ^ The Neglected Garden: The Politics and Ecology of Agriculture in Iran Keith Stanley McLachlan. 1988. ISBN 1-85043-045-4 p.40
  10. ^ Lenczowski. 1944, p. 161
  11. ^ Rezun. 1982, p. 29
  12. ^ Modern Iran: Roots and Results of Revolution. Nikki R. Keddie. Yale University Press. ISBN 0-300-09856-1 p.101
  13. ^ Louis, Wm. Roger (2007). Ends of British Imperialism: The Scramble for Empire, Suez, and Decolonization. I. B. Tauris. p. 776. ISBN 978-1-84511-347-6. 
  14. ^ Iran Under the Ayatollahs. Dilip Hiro. 1987. ISBN 0-7102-1123-6 p.310
  15. ^
  16. ^ Reynolds, Paul (2003-12-16). "Middle East | How Saddam could embarrass the West". BBC News. Retrieved 2013-05-20. 
  17. ^ "Iraqi Scientist Reports on German, Other Help for Iraq Chemical Weapons Program". Retrieved 2013-05-20. 
  18. ^ "German Imports to Iran to Fall Sharply Due to Nuclear Standoff | Germany | DW.DE | 26.01.2006". Retrieved 2013-05-20. 
  19. ^ Melman, Yossi (2007-10-11). "Israel fails to prevent Germany freeing Iranian". Retrieved 2013-05-20. 
  20. ^ Hakakian, Roya (2007-10-04). "The End of the Dispensable Iranian". Der Spiegel. Retrieved 2009-01-31. 
  21. ^ "Germany and Iran Embroiled in Diplomatic Spat | Germany | Deutsche Welle | 28.04.2004". Retrieved 2013-05-20. 
  22. ^ [1][dead link]
  23. ^ "Horrorreise nach Teheran: In den Fängen der iranischen Justiz - SPIEGEL ONLINE". Retrieved 2013-05-20. 
  24. ^ [2][dead link]
  25. ^ "Iran demands apology over German cartoon | Media". The Guardian. 2006-02-15. Retrieved 2013-05-20. 
  26. ^ "'Merkel=Hitler' say demonstrators in Tehran < German news | Expatica Germany". Retrieved 2013-05-20. 
  27. ^ a b c "German-Iranian trade up 7.8 percent". Retrieved 2013-05-20. 
  28. ^ "The Cost of Economic Sanctions on Major Exporters to Iran". Retrieved 2013-05-20. 
  29. ^ Service, Haaretz (2009-11-05). "Iran warns Germany: Don't let 'Zionists' harm your interests". Retrieved 2013-05-20. 
  30. ^ "Germany-Iran trade grows 9% in 2010". Retrieved 2013-05-20. 
  31. ^
  32. ^ Opinion of Iran BBC
  33. ^ A Global “No” To a Nuclear-Armed Iran Pew Research Center
  34. ^ Gallup International: End of Year 2013- Germany

External links[edit]