Data from the German Chamber of Commerce showed that trade in the first four months of 2019 was down 49 percent or €529million (£475million) compared to the same period last year. Under the sanctions, Iran is blocked from accessing the US financial system or trading in dollars. Companies that do business with Tehran will lose access to the US market.

It was Hans-Dietrich Genscher, West German Foreign Affairs Minister who was the first Western foreign minister to visit the state after the Islamic Revolution back in 1984.

German trade to Iran become increasingly prominent in the aftermath of the Iran-Iraq War.

By 2004, Germany was exporting €3.6billion (£3.2billion) to Iran per year.

The election of Hassan Rouhani as Iranian President, considered by commentators as a more moderate candidate lead to a thawing of relations following the premiership of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and the arrest of several German citizens in Tehran.

The markets in Iran have increasingly become important for German business with 50 firms having branch offices and 12,000 having some form of representation there.

The German Chambers of Industry and Commerce have previously estimated sanctions could cost 10,000 German jobs.

Tensions are high following an increasing confrontation between Tehran and the United States.

Iran is blamed by the US for an attack on two oil tankers in the Persian Gulf.
Washington has released videos which it says shows Iranian Revolutionary Guards removing an unexploded mine from one of the ships.

Iran denies any involvement in the incident but did shoot down a US spy drone it claims violated its airspace, though the US insists it was in international airspace.

President Trump claims he was ten minutes away from retaliation but called off an attack after learning 150 Iranians would die.