Iran has shares in German firm producing top secret Israeli weapons

An Iranian government firm owns shares in a German company which manufactures Israel’s most classified weapons, including submarines and Sa’ar 6 Class corvette warships for the Israeli navy, Israeli news website Ynet News revealed yesterday.

Israel claims that it has been doing its best to avoid deals with international firms that have connections with Iran, but the Israeli website said that it came to light that Israeli money ends up in Iranian hands through this German firm.

According to Ynet News, the Iranian Foreign Investment Company (IFIC) holds nearly five per cent of shares in the German ThyssenKrupp Marine Systems (TKMS), further noting that the IFIC is the Iranian government’s main avenue for investing abroad.

It also reported Israeli fears about the level of access the Iranian shareholders would have to one of the most classified projects for the Israeli military.

Based on an interview conducted with IFIC’s Farhad Zargari, The Business Year revealed that that Iran owns 4.5 per cent of ThyssenKrupp shares.

“As the central body responsible for foreign investments for the government, the IFIC has a huge responsibility in strengthening Iran’s world economic relations,” Zargari told The Business Year.

“IFIC has investments in 22 countries on five continents. It has stakes in companies such as British Petroleum, ThyssenKrupp, Adidas and other large multinational corporations,” Zargari said in an interview released by IFIC a few months ago.

According to Ynet News, IFIC, which started investing in ThyssenKrupp in 1974, has reported that it has invested $1.5 billion in foreign companies, 57 per cent of which are in Europe.