Financial Tribune - German exports to Iran rose by 26% last year and by more than 30% in January alone, says an economist at Germany’s Chamber of Commerce and Industry, known by its German acronym DIHK, as trade between the two countries picks up after sanctions were lifted.

Trade between Germany and Iran was worth €2.9 billion in 2016, up from €2.4 billion in 2015, data from the Federal Statistics Office showed. Exports of German goods accounted for €2.6 billion of that amount, Reuters reported.

DIHK foreign trade economist Volker Treier says he is sticking to the aim of boosting trade in goods between Germany and Iran to €5 billion by the end of 2018.

“With these growth rates, that’s certainly achievable,” he said, though he added that a previous prediction of trade volume reaching €10 billion within 10 years would probably take longer.

“It’s a stable upswing,” he said. “But it’s not the great success of which we dreamed and of which we are still dreaming.”

Treier said part of the problem was that hardly any major banks want to get involved in projects and business with Iran due to some US sanctions that remain in place.

German banks in the United States risk fines by breaching such restrictions.