Leaning On Iran

Internation economic pressure is mounting on Iran.

Trade figures and other data have begun to reflect deepening economic isolation taking place as a result of U.S.-led efforts to penalize Tehran for what the United States alleges is the pursuit of nuclear weapons and sponsorship of terrorist groups.

I wonder if it will work because it didn't for Iraq. My initial opinion is that pay back is waaaaaay overdue. With lots of interest.

For example, Iran's imports from Germany fell 14% in the first eight months of 2006, the German-Iranian Chamber of Commerce says. European Union countries account for 40% of Iran's imports, and Germany is Iran's largest European supplier, providing machinery, steel and electrical equipment, along with other goods.

German government export credits, used to finance trade, also fell by a third last year and are expected to drop again this year, said Ulrich Sante, a spokesman at the German Embassy in Washington.

Pressure is also being applies to corporations that have investments in Iran.

FRANKFURT (Reuters) -- DaimlerChrysler intends to divest its majority stake in the company that is its exclusive distributor for Mercedes-Benz vehicles in Iran, Germany's WirtschaftsWoche magazine reported on its Web site.

"The group is reacting to the growing pressure that the United States is applying on companies that do business in Iran," the magazine said Monday, without giving a source for its information.

It said DaimlerChrysler would sell its 51 percent stake in marketing group Setareh in the next few weeks.

This kind of pressure is certainly going to hurt Iran's economy, but will it make enough of a difference to influence those who make decisions regarding Iran's nuclear future?

And of course another consideration is the UN and its penchant for perfidy and greed. Is there an Irani Oil-For-Food deal in the future?