MarketWatch:

German businesses are cooling on Russian investments amid anger over Russia’s role in the Ukrainian conflict, while simultaneously warming on another big country hit by Western sanctions: Iran.

Companies across Germany have quietly rekindled once-strong commercial ties with Iran, industry officials said. The shift, also occurring in other European countries, is possible because Western governments — working to prevent Iran from developing nuclear weapons — in November granted it some relief from sanctions. Talks on a broader deal continue, sparking hope among some businesses that Iran’s market of 77 million potential consumers could soon open to them.

“The market will explode when the embargo gets lifted,” predicted Stephanie Spinner-Konig, managing director of high-tech component maker Spinner GmbH and a participant in one of two German business delegations that visited Iran this year...

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