DaimlerChrysler to exit Iran marketing arm - report

Mon. 12 Feb 2007

FRANKFURT, Feb 12 (Reuters) - DaimlerChrysler intends to divest its majority stake in the company that is its exclusive distributor for Mercedes-Benz vehicles in Iran, Germany's WirtschaftsWoche magazine reported on its website.

"The group is reacting to the growing pressure that the United States is applying on companies that do business in Iran," the magazine said on Monday, without giving a source for its information.

It said DaimlerChrysler would sell its 51 percent stake in marketing group Setareh in the next few weeks.

DaimlerChrysler, the world's fifth-biggest carmaker thanks to the 1998 merger of Germany's Daimler-Benz with U.S. automaker Chrysler, could not be reached immediately for comment.

Washington has been stepping up pressure on Iran, which it accuses of harbouring ambitions to develop nuclear weapons. Iran insists its nuclear energy programme is for peaceful purposes.