JERUSALEM POST
by Reuters
July 19, 2015

German Vice Chancellor Sigmar Gabriel is on a three-day visit to the Islamic Republic.

…..Gabriel, who is also economy minister, is the first senior figure from a large western government to visit Iran since it struck a landmark agreement with world powers on its nuclear program last week. The deal was reached despite strong opposition from Israel, with which Germany has cultivated a close relationship since the end of World War Two, when the Nazis killed six million Jews. That puts Germany in a delicate position as it seeks to win new business in Iran after a 12-year standoff over Iran’s nuclear program during which sanctions sharply reduced trade and investment. Conscious of that diplomatic difficulty, Gabriel kicked off his trip with a plea for Iran to improve relations with arch-enemy Israel and said Germany would like to act as a mediator. “You can’t have a good economic relationship with Germany in the long-term if we don’t discuss such issues too and try to move them along,” Gabriel told a gathering of German and Iranian business people in Tehran. READ MORE