According to German media including Deutsche Presse-Agentur and Sueddeutsche Zeitung, earlier this summer, German media reported that Tehran was looking to withdraw the funds from the European-Iranian Trade Bank out of concerns that it might run out of cash after US sanctions against the Iranian financial sector kick in in November.
If transferred, the funds would have been the largest amount of cash ever removed from German coffers in the country's history.
Washington, which began introducing incrementally harsh restrictions against Tehran after withdrawing from the nuclear deal in May, had put pressure on German authorities not to hand over the money, citing concerns that it may be used to finance armed groups in the Middle East. German government officials said in July that they had no indication to suggest that Iran had any plans to use the funds for such purposes, according to Bild.
On November 4, US sanctions against the Iranian energy sector, the country's ports, shipping industry, and foreign financial institutions doing business with Iranian ones are expected to go into effect. In the wake of Washington's looming reimposition of sanctions, China, India, Russia, and the European countries have scrambled to find ways to retain business ties with Iran, with the remaining signatories to the Iran nuclear deal looking to salvage it.
