News

Siemens became one of the first large German industrial companies to bow to pressure from the German and US governments when the group announced on Tuesday it would seek no new business in Iran.

Siemens came under additional pressure within the US after reports last year that technology sold to Iran by its joint venture Nokia Siemens Networks could be used to monitor calls within the country. The sale led campaign groups to call for a boycott of Siemens.

Peter Loescher, Siemens chief executive, revealed at the company’s annual shareholder meeting that the board had decided in October to refrain from new business with Tehran.

He said some contractual agreements still had to be fulfilled but “starting in the middle of 2010, we will take on no new orders from Iran”. Siemens had sales of €500m ($700m, £440m) in Iran last financial year, 0.7 per cent of total sales. By contrast, Siemens’ US business is a pillar of the group, with more than 70,000 of its 402,000 workforce employed in the country.