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Source: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704240004575085222234577764.html?mod=googlenews_wsj
The Berlin-Dubai-Tehran Axis
(Wall Street Journal Europe) Matthias Kuntzel - Since China still opposes new UN sanctions, the responsibility for stopping the Iranian bomb rests with a "coalition of the willing." Yet hundreds of German manufacturers remain determined to continue doing business as usual with Tehran. Much of that business goes undetected via Dubai. Iran's mullahs use the United Arab Emirates as a back door through which to funnel goods that cannot be brought in through the front door because of existing sanctions. Dubai is already the "gateway to the Iranian market" - and not only for German companies. The emirate is considered the hub for much of the world's illegal trade with Iran. Some 8,000 Iranian firms and 1,200 Iranian trading companies are registered in the emirate, and 80% of all Emirati imports are re-exported, one-quarter of which goes to Iran via Dubai. Between 2005 and 2009, the value of goods exported from Dubai to Iran tripled, reaching $12 billion.