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Asian Companies Pull Back from Iran amid U.S. Pressure
(Wall Street Journal) Benoit Faucon and Sune Engel Rasmussen - Asian companies that had provided a lifeline to Iran after the U.S. reimposed sanctions last year are pulling back, hurting the hobbled Iranian economy, Western diplomats say. Among Asian businesses rethinking their dealings with Iran are banks, oil companies and technology giants including Huawei, Lenovo, LG, and Samsung. Many deals between Iran and Chinese companies "are now dead in the water," said an adviser to a Chinese oil company in Iran. "No one wants to take the risk of going out of business." The Chinese Bank of Kunlun, a key conduit for Sino-Iranian trade, told clients on Monday that it will stop all transfers with Iran beginning May 1. The bank is owned by the state-run China National Petroleum Corp. Monthly Chinese exports to Iran stood at $629 million in March, down from a monthly average of $1.6 billion. Multibillion-dollar projects in oil and gas fields and railways granted to Chinese state-run giants are now under threat, according to Iranian business executives. European officials say Beijing has appeared willing to slow trade with Iran in return for concessions from Washington in the continuing trade fight between the U.S. and China.