http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/946853.html
Germany criticizes Austrian trade ties with Iran
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By Benjamin Weinthal
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Top German officials, including German Chancellor Angela Merkel, have
recently criticized Austria's commercial ties with Iran and its opposition
to tighter sanctions on the Islamic republic, according to a source with
ties to the Berlin government.
These criticisms, made at several high-level meetings, are the first sign of
a rift between fellow European Union members Austria and Germany over trade
with Iran.
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In one closed-door meeting last autumn, according to the source, Merkel said
that Austria set a dangerous precedent when its state-owned energy and gas
company OMV negotiated a 22 billion euro agreement to develop Iranian gas
and oil fields. Merkel said that the EU must work to stop such agreements.
At another meeting in mid-December, the German State Secretary for Foreign
Affairs Reinhard Silberberg suggested that the EU might institute its own
sanctions against Iran's bank and energy sectors, in an effort to halt
Tehran's nuclear program. However, the official added, Austria could
complicate any EU effort to implement new trade restrictions.
Germany, as Iran's leading trade partner in the EU, could exert serious
economic pressure on Tehran. In an article for the paper Handelsblatt on
December 27, Merkel wrote: "It remains in the vital interest of the entire
international community to prevent a nuclear-armed Iran, if necessary by
intensifying sanctions."
Nonetheless, the German Ambassador to Iran, Herbert Honsowitz, told Iranian
Press TV that the "German Embassy is trying to take measures toward
maintaining and improving economic ties between the private sectors of the
two countries." He added that UN sanctions have not hurt German exports to
Iran because these products pass through the Dubai free-trade zone.
Honsowitz's efforts to strengthen economic relations between Iran and
Germany seem to be at cross purposes with Merkel's efforts to clamp down on
German-Iranian trade. During her visit to the United States in November, she
assured President George W. Bush that Germany would discourage companies
from commencing deals with the Iranians.
Some critics believe that Berlin's gingerly approach to persuading companies
to end business relations with Iran is ineffective. "If the special
relationship with Israel and the vows to defend its right to exist count for
anything, this is the time for the Federal Republic to set an example to
follow. It would entail enacting comprehensive and if need be even
unilateral sanctions and slashing all export credit guarantees," said Dr.
Yves Pallade, an expert on German-Israeli relations and director of the
Foreign Affairs Network of B'nai B'rith Europe.
The OMV deal, signed in April, also faces mounting criticism in Austria. But
Austrian Chancellor Alfred Gusenbauer, asked by the Austrian daily Die
Presse how the deal squares with his Social Democratic Party's tradition of
"human rights before business," responded: "The tradition never held true."
Ironically, OMV sponsors the Holocaust remembrance project Letter to the
Stars, which fosters exchanges between Holocaust survivors and Austrian
students. Yaakov Stiassny, of the central committee of Jews from Austria in
Israel, said his organization has asked the project to sever its partnership
with OMV.
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