To understand the twists and turns of doing business in Iran, look no further than the Peugeot 405. This boxy, mid-sized car is everywhere in Iran. But it’s had a bumpy ride. That’s because doing business there can be unpredictable. Peugeot’s a French company that’s been making cars for over 100 years. “Because you don’t get to be the second-oldest carmaker in the world by making second-rate cars.” But it didn’t start in Iran until the 1990s. In Tehran it partnered with Iran Khodro, an automaker that’s partly owned by the Iranian government. It was a huge success. By the beginning of 2012, Peugeot was all in on Iran. It had 30 percent of the automobile market and Iran was a major source of revenue for Peugeot, second only to France. And among Iran’s middle class, owning a Peugeot meant that you had made it. But all that changed when the U.S., European Union and United Nations imposed tough sanctions to make Iran curb its nuclear program. International companies were blocked from working in Iran, and Peugeot was forced out. “Our company was also a victim of the sanctions.” Seeing an opening, Chinese car makers leapt to take Peugeot’s place. And back home in France, Peugeot is in decline, partly because it lost access to the Iranian market. By 2014, the company was slashing jobs and scrambling for new financing. Then this happened. “Breaking overnight, a historic deal.” “We have a real opportunity to achieve a comprehensive peaceful settlement.” Iran signed a historic nuclear deal in 2015. As long as the country met stringent restrictions on its nuclear program, foreign investment could restart. It was a big opportunity for Peugeot and the company quickly moved to take advantage. In 2016, Peugeot began investing hundreds of millions of dollars as part of a renewed partnership with Iran Khodro. “It is a real comeback of PSA in Iran.” And business was booming once again. These new deals helped double sales in the region that year. But then — “We will be instituting the highest level of economic sanction.” Now that the U.S. is pulling out of the nuclear deal, Peugeot may be going back to where it started. This country, which has been tied to so many of the company’s ups and downs, might be off limits again. It’s a cautionary tale for investors looking to cash in on Iran.