According to the latest figures obtained from UK Trade and Investment (UKTI), there was a modest five percent rise in British exports to Iran to pnds 135 million (dlrs 270 m) in the first four months of this year compared with the same period in 2007.

Between January and April 2008, UK imported goods from Iran also increased by 40 percent from last year, but remain low, worth only pnds 28 m.

The figures come after a fall in the UK's annual exports to Iran from pnds 464 m in 2005 to pnds 400 m in 2007. At the same time, there has been a relative improvement in Iranian exports from pnds 39 m to pnds 66 m.

But UK firms prefer not to comment on the impact on trade from the recent extension of EU sanctions outside the remit of the UN that go much further than being directed against Iran's civil nuclear program.

Back in February, the British-Iranian Chamber of Commerce (BICC) blamed last year's fall in bilateral trade due to restrictions rather than a fall in the competitiveness of British exporters.

BICC president Lord Phillips has criticized the growing restrictions for wasting commercial opportunities and warned against pursuing such a policy that will 'only have harmful consequences for the British government'.

"I believe that the chamber of commerce could boost the exchange of trade cooperation between Iran and the UK to one billion pounds," Philips said in May.

The new restrictions include not only an EU freeze on the accounts of Bank Melli in July, but the adoption of a new EU Common Position, calling for restrain in providing financial support for bilateral trade.

UKTI, a government agency, announced last month that it would be delivering no official services to help British companies who wish to export to Iran or invest there.

"This means that no substantive commercial assistance is provided," it said.

The new EU Common Position also urged for financial vigilance and the setting of rigorous reporting requirements for the Iranian banks, especially Bank Saderat, which has previously been exempt from sanction.

In a recent interview with IRNA, the Conservative's shadow foreign office minister David Lidington argued that there were 'enormous opportunities for British business to develop in Iran'.

But Lidington dismissed the effect of the new sanctions, saying 'no sane British government wants to have these sanctions for longer than is necessary', insisting that there were a 'measure of how seriously we take the nuclear issue'.

© IRNA 2008

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