European companies doing business with Iran are being hit by the toughening of sanctions against the government in Tehran. EU firms feel at a disadvantage compared for example to United States concerns, because the new European rules governing trade with Iran go further than those implemented by the United Nations.

Marloes Bosboom, of the Netherlands Centre for the Promotion of Trade (NCH), says Dutch firms will be badly hit. Companies attending a NCH meeting on the issue earlier this month were pessimistic.

Cross-section
The new sanctions will directly or indirectly affect all companies supplying goods or services to Iran. “These are a cross-section of Dutch businesses,” says Michel Raas. His firm has been doing business with Iran for decades. He has been hit by sanctions before, but never was it as bad as it is now.

Mr Raas does not want his company named because of the delicacy of the situation. He is also unwilling to give figures detailing his firm’s trade with Iran. However, he does say that 30 percent of its business is dependent on the Middle East market, which includes Iran.

UN sanctions
The United Nations imposed sanctions on Iran in July because of its controversial nuclear activities. Less than one month later, the EU opted to tighten its own sanctions, making them decidedly tougher than those of the UN. The transfer of payments to Iran are also affected by the new EU rules. This makes it a good deal harder for European companies to do business there.

Mr Raas says Dutch firms can either choose to stop operating in Iran or keep within the new regulations. Whichever way they play it, their opportunities have been cut. The NCH says it’s now down to the inventiveness of companies in making use of the remaining possibilities.

Human rights
Human rights activists are pushing for even tougher sanctions against Iran. At the moment, the case of Dutch-Iranian woman Zahra Bahrami is in the news. She was imprisoned in Tehran at the end of 2009 for alleged subversion and is reported to be facing the death penalty. The Dutch ambassador has been denied permission to offer her legal support and her Iranian lawyer has recently been arrested.