Citing government sources, Handelsblatt business daily said Germany will no longer authorise its central bank, the Bundesbank, to clear the payments headed to Hamburg-based EIH.
According to Reuters, the apparent reversal has not come without a cost for German companies, which according to Handelsblatt now face hundreds of millions of dollars in bills outstanding for products ordered from Iran.
Reuters added, “The move will increase pressure on Tehran, already under a series of U.N. sanctions for refusing to freeze its uranium enrichment program.”