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U.S. Lists Companies Aiding Iran's Energy Projects

(New York Times) Ron Nixon - Over the past five years, 41 foreign companies have helped Iran develop its oil and gas sector, which accounts for more than half of the Iranian government's revenues, Congressional investigators reported Thursday. The Government Accountability Office report, requested by Senators Joseph Lieberman (I-Conn.) and Jon Kyl (R-Ariz.), cited the China National Petroleum Corporation and Daewoo Shipbuilding and Marine Engineering of South Korea, but did not determine whether the companies had violated the Iran Sanctions Act, devised to punish foreign companies that invested more than $20 million in a given year to develop Iran's oil and gas fields. Last month, the New York Times disclosed that over the past 10 years, the federal government gave more than $107 billion in contract payments, grants and other benefits to foreign and multinational American companies while they were doing business in Iran. That includes nearly $15 billion paid to companies that defied American sanctions law by making large investments that helped Iran develop its vast oil and gas reserves. In the 14 years since the law was passed, the government has never enforced it.
2010-04-23 08:36:17
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