The German government is officially suspending export loans and investment guarantees for businesses in Iran, the AP reported.

The Economics Ministry also suspended other "economic formats," including the energy dialogue, because of "the very serious situation in Iran."

Export credit guarantees protect German companies from losses when exports are not paid for. Investment guarantees are provided to protect direct investments by German companies from political risk in the countries where they are made.

The ministry said the use of these instruments for projects in Iran had been suspended for decades until the "short phase of opening" from 2016 as a result of Iran's agreement with world powers, including Germany, on its nuclear program. It is noted that safeguards were granted or extended for several projects during this period, but there have been no new ones since 2019.

The German government has now decided to "suspend completely" safeguards, and exceptions can only be granted if there are compelling humanitarian reasons.

According to the ministry, trade between Germany and Iran was 1.76 billion euros in 2021 and 1.49 billion euros in the first nine months of this year.