Iran–Spain relations

Diplomatic relations between Spain and Iran have an absence of bilateral disputes. Spain is considered in Iran as a friendly country and one of the countries of the European Union with a better image. Both countries have experienced Arab conquest after the initial expansion of Islam in the 700s.

As for the evolution of these relations, there is a parallel between Spain and a good part of the rest of the EU countries. The certain thaw in relations with President Aznar's visit to Iran in 2002 and President Jatami's visit to Spain that same year, was followed by President Ahmadinejad's eight years. From the events of 2009 and the worsening of the nuclear issue, official relations between Iran and Spain, as a member of the EU, were affected, especially with the approval of EU sanctions in January 2012, its entry into force in the summer of that year and its hardening in subsequent months. The expression of this situation is the absence of official trips, delegations or visits of senior officials between the two countries between 2010 and the fall of 2013.

Iran was among the three largest suppliers of crude oil to Spain in 2011, with almost 14% of imported oil. The situation has changed radically with the approval of the EU sanctions establishing the total cessation of these imports. Spain has been the second EU country most affected after Greece and Italy.

In 2011, the last year before the sanctions, Spanish exports to Iran reached €655.3M, increasing by 33.2% against a 7.3% drop in the EU. Between 2009 and 2011 Spanish exports to Iran grew by almost 50%.

In a global context, Spain accounted for 0.8% of total Iranian imports in 2011 and was the 21st supplier. For Spain, Iran was the 46th largest customer in the world, with 0.31% of total exports Spanish.[3]

Iran has never had development cooperation agreements with Spain. Iran does not have a financial program with Spain. In any case, as of UN Resolution 1747 of March 24, 2007, and under the provisions of point 7, it is not possible to grant Iran concessional financing except for humanitarian reasons.

• Foreign relations of Iran
• Foreign relations of Spain