The Embassy of Iran in Berlin

Amb. Mahmoud Farazandeh

Mahmoud Farazandeh was appointed ambassador of the Islamic Republic of Iran to Germany in August 2019. Previously he was working since 2017 as Assistant to Minister of Foreign Affairs and Director General of Department of East Asia & Oceania. He already served as ambassador of Iran to Indonesia (2010-2015) and to Uganda (2000-2003).

Born on May 23rd 1960, Mahmoud Farazandeh got in 1990 a Master’s Degree in Civil Engineering at the University of Arizona, USA.

Economic relations between Germany and Iran have traditionally been close. By the second half of the 19th century, during the establishment of Iran’s first modern University Darolfonoon, it was common practice to hire German and Austrian teachers and in this way Iranians got familiar with the science and technology potential of Germany. From there, the relationship between the two countries deepened over the years, to the extent that from 1939 until 1941 Iran’s top foreign trade partner was Germany, which had an important role in helping Iran to establish modern sea and air transportation ties with the rest of the world. During those years, Iran imported many different products from Germany; by 1975 West Germany became the second most important supplier of non-military goods to Iran and in the course of this development, Germany became the European country with the largest Iranian expatriate community.

After the 1979 Islamic Revolution in Iran, relations between the two countries experienced several ups and downs. After the Iran-Iraq war, Germany increasingly became a primary trading partner of Iran again, counting as Iran’s biggest trading partner after China.

The UN sanctions which have been imposed on Iran have caused a gap in the Iran-Germany relations. With the accord between Iran and the P5+1 now reached, sanctions relief will deeply affect the ties between the two countries. The ambassador expects that "Germany will again be number one or two among Iran's trade partners". In July 2015, German Vice-Chancellor and Minister for Economic Affairs and Energy Sigmar Gabriel visited Iran at the head of a high-ranking trade delegation, including the representatives of 20 German economic giants, and held meetings with senior Iranian officials to develop economic cooperation between the two countries.

Apart from the economic sector, close cooperation has developed in particular in education: the numerous German vocational schools in Iran came to be held in high regard as partners and, their past reputation, still contributes to Iran’s generally positive view of Germany. Both sides have a keen interest in cultural exchange. This applies in particular to bilateral scientific and academic relations. Moreover, German as a foreign language is another focus of bilateral cultural relations. In 2015, 8,500 students enrolled at all levels in the language courses offered by the German Language Institute Tehran (DSIT) and more than 10,500 learners of German sat the Goethe Institute’s central examinations.