German firms in talks with Iran over supply routes to Afghanistan
IRNA - Islamic Republic News Agency
Berlin, April 1, IRNA - Two private German logistic companies are involved in talks with Iran, seeking alternative non-military supply routes to Afghanistan, a German Army spokesman told IRNA here Wednesday.
Both companies which have been transporting food and fuel destined for German NATO troops in Afghanistan, have been in contact with Iran and have been trying to find alternative transportation routes, the German official said.
He stressed neither NATO nor the German government were involved in any contractual talks whatsoever but were merely "monitoring" the situation.
The spokesman confirmed that the Defense Committee of the German Parliament had debated the issue last week.
NATO convoys, travelling through Pakistan, have increasingly come under attack by Taliban and al-Qaeda forces.
The western military has presently deployed around 55,000 troops in Afghanistan as part of the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) which is by far NATO's largest mission outside Europe.
The ISAF mission was mandated by the United Nations in December 2001 in the wake of the overthrow of the Taliban.
The largest troop contingents come from the US with 23,220 followed by Britain with 8,910 and Germany with 3,500.
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