IRNA � Germany's former foreign minister Sigmar Gabriel said that thousands of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in the country that do not have any transaction with the US can easily do business with Iran.


Heading a visiting economic delegation to Tehran, Gabriel at a meeting with the head of Iran's Central Bank Abdolnasser Hemmati, said Germany is interested to strengthen economic relations with Iran, despite the re-imposition of the US sanctions.

'One goal of JCPOA (Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action) was to broaden political and economic ties between Iran and Europe,' he said, referring to the nuclear deal signed by Iran and the world major powers in 2015.

The US withdrew from the deal in May and placed on Iran the sanctions that were supposed to be lifted.

Opposing the US unilateral act, the European Union has called for keeping the deal alive despite the US withdrawal.

At the meeting, the two sides also discussed the financial mechanism devised for easing trade between Iran and Europe without being affected by the sanctions.

Germany had a 5.42-percent share of Iran's market in the past seven months (March-October) with $426 million worth of export to the country.