Germany's federal statistical bureau, has just published Country Profile Iran. According to destatis, Germany's exports to Iran have risen considerably in the last couple of years. Germany now occupies the # 1 spot for Iranian imports.
http://medienkritik.typepad.com/blog/2006/11/germany_and_now.html
November 27, 2006 - KABUL: Under pressure within NATO to deploy fighting troops to southern Afghanistan, Berlin intends instead to build a key road to help modernize one of the most turbulent areas, Deutsche Presse-Agentur reported on Saturday.
In an interview published Friday, Germany's Chancellor Angela Merkel rejected the calls to send German troops from the relatively calm north to help British, Canadian and Dutch forces fighting insurgents in the south.
Alliance officials say NATO Secretary-General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer is insisting that allies lift national restrictions on how troops can be used and deployed in Afghanistan.
NATO experts say alliance members with troops in Afghanistan have imposed more than 100 caveats - spanning up to 17 pages - on the use and movement of their soldiers.
Germany currently has more than 2,900 military personnel in Afghanistan, the third-largest contingent in ISAF (International Security and Assistance Force). Germany's legislature has authorized the troops to only leave their zone of the deployment in the north and in Kabul in emergencies and for short durations, not permanently.
Popular support for the Taliban is said to have soared in the south because of the failure to bring prosperity in the past five years.