[RFE/RL] Iran has stopped importing American-made cars after a speech by Supreme Leader Khamenei criticizing them. Although American car manufacturers have been barred from selling cars directly to Iran for decades, Tehran previously had allowed 24 models manufactured by Chevrolet, to be imported through other countries.The new ban on such imports was imposed on May 1 after a speech by Khamenei on April 27 questioning why Iranians should drive American cars at all. He said, "Americans themselves don't use U.S.-made cars. We have seen this reflected in American media. They argue that fuel consumption is high and the cars are heavy."
GM said that it had no plans to enter the Iranian market anyway. While most Western countries lifted economic sanctions prohibiting the sale of cars to Iran in January, the U.S. continues to bar most commercial ties with Tehran, a GM spokesman said, and the company will continue to honor those sanctions.
Tehran has been in talks to set up joint manufacturing plants inside Iran with major European automakers, including Fiat, Mercedes Benz, Peugeot, Renault, and Volkswagen.