I had written here about how the Russian government ridiculed President Barack Obama and Secretary of State John Kerry’s insistence that snapback sanctions would restore pressure on Iran should the Islamic Republic be caught cheating. And here about why China likewise won’t support snapback sanctions on Iran. It would be hard to consider either Russia or China a U.S. ally (unless, of course, one is Hillary Clinton or has been influenced to do so by money laundered through the Clinton Foundation), but Germany is a different case entirely. Or at least it should be.

Germany has always put mercantile considerations above human rights and a quest for peace. It has long played a double game on Iran and sanctions, but there was only so far Berlin would go to seek short-term profit when the international community still upheld sanctions on Iran.

But with Obama signaling an end to sanctions—even if he says their suspension is conditional—Germany is moving in to rake in the big bucks from Iran’s ayatollahs. From the indispensable Michael Spaney of Germany’s “Stop the Bomb” organization:

• In Berlin, German Vice Chancellor and Economics Minister Sigmar Gabriel will meet Iranian Oil Minister Bijan Zanganeh today. The oil minister will also speak at the “Energy Security Summit”, which takes place today in Berlin and is organized by the Munich Security Conference under the auspices of Foreign Minister Frank Walter Steinmeier. Zanganeh will also meet representatives from the companies Siemens, Linde and Lurgi in Munich, according to Iranian media reports…
• Another conference dealing with the reentry into the Iranian market has the support of the Federal Ministry of Economics. The conference is organized by the Association of German Chambers of Commerce and Industry and will take place on May 19 in Berlin. Vice Chancellor Sigmar Gabriel will open the conference with a welcoming speech.
• The Near and Middle East Association “Numov” has issued invitations to a conference on the same day, entitled “Doing Business in Iran” which will feature the director of the Iranian Bank of Industry and Mines, which is on EU and US sanctions lists.
• In Iran, the German Engineering Association VDMA is represented with a booth at the ongoing Iran Oil trade show. The technology fair INOTEX will take place in early June with the support of the German-Iranian Chamber of Commerce.

Spaney has always been meticulous in his research, and his press release includes the sourcing to support his allegations and revelations. What he omits is that most of Germany’s investment dollars will not aid ordinary Iranians or even the chimera of reform; rather, German firms are pumping money directly into the coffers of those companies controlled by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps. Regardless, the point is, however, once investors go in, they will not depart. Germany may not sit on the Security Council like Russia and China, but Berlin will resist as hard acknowledgment of any Iranian cheating if it means the loss of billions in investments. If Obama were to design a strategy that empowers Iran, enables it to better afford a nuclear program and advanced military, and leaves the way clear for it to develop nuclear weapons should it so choose, it would not look much different from the strategy upon which he has now embarked. Germany’s actions are simply the latest confirmation that Obama’s insistence that he can close the floodgates is nothing but manna for the stupid or political fantasy.