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Oil Companies Returning to Iran Face Challenge in Form of Revolutionary Guards
(Wall Street Journal) Benoit Faucon - Any oil firms that return to Iran will find a new force to be reckoned with: the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps. In particular, oil companies will find it necessary to come to an accommodation with engineering contractor Khatam ol-Anbia. With up to 40,000 employees, the company has become one of Iran's largest conglomerates. Although sanctions on Iran have been eased for the first six months of this year, U.S. and EU companies still are barred from dealing with Khatam, which the U.S. has accused of being involved in Iran's nuclear program. If that ban remains after other sanctions are permanently lifted, that could prove an impediment to Western companies' plans to return.