UANI

"Cellphone operator MTN has said it might be able to scale down its operations in Iran to avoid US sanctions, the government said today. Deputy Foreign Minister Ebrahim Ebrahim said that MTN had said this in discussions with the government about how to avoid the 'unilateral' sanctions which the US has imposed on Iran. Ebrahim was speaking at a briefing by the Minister of International Relations and Cooperate Maite Nkoana-Mashabane and her senior staff about her department's budget which she presented to Parliament on Wednesday... MTN has direct business interests in the US but the indirect impact of being cut out of the dollar system is also enormous. Ebrahim said in an interview afterwards that MTN had told the government it would not be expanding its operations in Iran. But asked if that meant MTN had also agreed to scale down its Iran operations, he said it had. But Ebrahim added that there were no indications yet if the US would accept a scaling down of MTN's ooperations or would demand that it would pull out of Iran entirely. The Iran contract is believed to be one of MTN's largest and most profitable foreign investments." (DailyNews, "MTN agrees to scale back Iran ops," 4/26/12)

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"The former chief executive of MTN Group denied on Sunday that he authorised bribes to Iranian and South African government officials in return for a cellular licence in Iran.  "I can state quite categorically that during my tenure as group CEO of MTN no bribes were authorised or paid by the MTN Group to any South African or Iranian government officials to secure the mobile licence in Iran," Phuthuma Nhleko said in a statement. Turkish mobile operator Turkcell this week filed a $4.2 billion lawsuit against MTN in a U.S. federal court, accusing it of using bribery and other corrupt acts to win its licence in Iran in 2004." (Reuters, "MTN former CEO denies bribes to Iran, S. Africa," 4/1/12)

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"Turkey's largest mobile phone operator, Turkcell Iletisim Hizmetlera AS (TKC), Thursday said it has filed a suit against South Africa's MTN Group Ltd. in the U.S., seeking damages related to the award of a license in Iran.  Turkcell alleges the South African company encouraged Pretoria to support Iran's nuclear power development program in 2005, and it claims MTN made improper payments to an Iranian and to a South African government official between 2004 and 2005 to enable the company to secure a license to operate in Iran... The allegations come as MTN's Iranian operation is the target of a U.S. lobby group, which is seeking to persuade foreign businesses to leave Iran. United Against Nuclear Iran in January sent a letter to MTN Chief Executive Sifiso Dabengwa calling for the company to pull out of the country, alleging MTN's technology is being used by Iran's government to locate and track mobile phone users." (Dow Jones, "Turkcell Files Suit Against MTN In US Courts," 3/28/12)

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"As nations around the world scramble to comply with U.S. sanctions on dealing with Iran, one of those in the toughest predicament is South Africa. South Africa relies on Iran for 27 per cent of its oil supply, and it hasn’t yet figured out how to replace the Iranian oil. But that’s only one part of the dilemma. South Africa also has a web of business and political connections with Iran, and those will be equally difficult to sever...One of South Africa’s biggest telecommunications companies, MTN, is a major investor in Iran. It owns 49 per cent of Iran’s second-biggest cellphone operator, MTN-Irancell, which controls almost half of Iran’s mobile phone market.  Critics say the South African company complied with Iranian orders to cut off Skype and text-messaging services to Iranian cellphones during the anti-government protests in 2009. They also allege that MTN-Irancell did a deal with a Chinese company to install tracking technology on Iranian cellphones, so that Iran can track dissidents." (Globe & Mail, "South Africe feels pain of sanctions against Iran." 3/27/12)

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"Competing mobile operators MTN and Turkcell were silent this week on the latter's claims that MTN bribed its way into Iran six years ago. But circumstances surrounding MTN's audacious entry into Iran, and the South African government's concurrent diplomatic efforts there, provide a compelling context for the claims. MTN could also face increasing international pressure because the Iranian military owns one of MTN's two state-linked partners there, Iran Electronics Industries (IEI)... In September 2008, the US Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control placed one of MTN's Irancell partners, IEI, on a list designed 'to combat the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction.' This 'blocks the property of persons engaged in proliferation activities and their support networks.' The company allegedly manufactures electronic components for Iran's weapons systems. IEI, reportedly wholly owned by Iran's ministry of defence, was also sanctioned by the European Union in June 2008 as well as under the US Iran and Syria Non-proliferation Act in December 2006. MTN's other partner in Irancell, the Mostazafan Foundation of Islamic Revolution, is purportedly a charitable body designed to benefit veterans of the Iran-Iraq war of the 1980s." (Mail & Guardian, "MTN in bed with Iran's military," 2/10/12)

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"Along with Sasol, which not only imports Iranian oil but also has a 50% share in a $900 million Iranian petrochemical project, South Africa's flagship telecommunications company MTN Group Ltd. has a joint venture in Iran. MTN said Wednesday that it is "business as usual" at its 49% stake in Iran's second-largest mobile phone operator. MTN derives 21% of its subscriber base from Iran, according to its most recent figures. 'There is no change in our operation,' an MTN spokesman said. 'Sanctions in Iran have been going on for decades.' South Africa's Minister of Communications Dina Pule said her department wouldn't put pressure on MTN to pull out, even if countries from Europe or the U.S. tried to lean on the company." (The Wall Street Journal, "South Africa's Sasol to Avoid Iran Oil," 1/25/2012)

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"Separately, Washington lobby group United Against Nuclear Iran says it is preparing a campaign to persuade South Africa's flagship telecommunications company MTN Group Ltd. to abandon its stake in Iran's second-largest cellphone operation. The company derives 21% of its subscriber base from Iran, according to data from September. Nathan Carleton, spokesman for United Against Nuclear Iran, says the group fears investment in Iranian telecommunication aids government censorship and efforts by officials to track cellphone users. MTN declined to comment on its business in Iran." (The Wall Street Journal, "U.S. Looks to Africa to Squeeze Iran" 1/23/2012)

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"This year Huawei made a pitch to Iranian government officials to sell equipment for a mobile news service on Iran's second-largest mobile-phone operator, MTN Irancell... During 2009's demonstrations, this person said, Huawei carried out government orders on behalf of its client, MTN Irancell, that MTN and other carriers had received to suspend text messaging and block the Internet phone service, Skype, which is popular among dissidents... A spokesman for MTN Group Ltd., a South African company that owns 49% of the Iranian operator, declined to answer questions, writing in an email, 'The majority of MTN Irancell is owned by the government of Iran.' He referred questions to the telecommunications regulator, which didn't respond." (The Wall Street Journal. “Chinese Tech Giant Aids Iran,” 10/27/11)

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MTN Group (MTNJ.J) has no immediate plans to list its Iranian unit or lower its stake in the unit, the head of Africa's largest mobile operator said on Thursday.  MTN chief executive Phuthuma Nhleko made the comment at an investor presentation following the company's first-half earnings results. (Reuters, “MTN says no immediate plan to list Iran unit,” 08/19/10)

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Russias third-largest mobile phone operator, MegaFon, is prepared to invest around three billion euros ($4.64bn) to build a GSM network in Iran, the company said. MegaFon hopes to win a tender for the third GSM licence in Iran, the firm quoted its general director Sergei Soldatenkov as saying at the opening of a representative office in Tehran. There are currently two mobile service providers in Iran - state-controlled Iran Telecommunication Company (ITC) and MTN Group, sub-Saharan Africas biggest cellphone operator. (Gulf Daily News, "MegaFon to invest $4.6bn in Iran," June 11, 2008)

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GIANTS WITH A FOOT IN TEHRAN: Total, Shell, Statoil, BNP Paribas, Commerzbank, MTN, UPS, Linde, Technip, Nokia, Ericsson, Peugeot, Renault, OMV, Societe Generale, ENI, Mitsubishi, Sumitomo, Siemens, LG, Samsung, Bosch, Valeo, Nestle, Unilever, BAT, Japan Tobacco. (The London Times, American pressure threatens UK firms, May 27, 2006)