UANI

Multiple flights each week from Tehran's Imam Khomeini Airport (IKA) connecting in Abu Dhabi to various airports, and location around the world. (Company Website)

Petrosteel lists the address of its Iranian office in the contact section of its website. (Company website)

Listed by U.S. Government as doing business in Iran. (U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, List of Companies Doing Business With State Sponsors Of Terror, Removed from the internet in July of 2007) The U.S State Department and the U.S. Treasury Department of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) have identified Iran, Sudan and Syria as state sponsors of terrorism, and forbid the sale of goods or services by U.S. persons or companies to these countries or to agents of the respective governments of these countries. On April 27, 2007 WWA Group received a cease and desist order from OFAC proscribing the sale of equipment or services, or facilitating the sale of equipment or services to persons with registered addresses in Iran, Syria or Sudan. WWA Group has never sold equipment at auction or delivered equipment to countries or to agents of the respective governments of these countries which OFAC has identified as state sponsors of terrorism However, we have in the past sold equipment to private individuals or companies resident in Iran, Sudan or Syria who may have, on their own accord, exported such purchased equipment to their countries of residence. Since May of 2007, in compliance with the OFAC cease and desist order, we have enforced a policy of prohibiting the sale of equipment to any persons or companies that register to bid using addresses in Iran, Sudan or Syria. (WWA Group, Annual Report, 2007)

Redington Gulf, one of the leading IT distributors and supply chain solutions providers in Middle East and Africa, strongly reacted to media reports about HP violating US trade sanctions by using Redington as a vehicle to sell printing products in Iran. An article published by The Boston Globe identified Redington as a sales channel for HP printers in Iran and quoted a US Treasury Department official as saying US companies are prohibited from selling goods to a distributor if they know the products are intended for Iran. Clarifying Redingtons position on this issue, Mr. Raj Shankar, CEO, Redington Gulf, said. Redington is an authorised distributor of HP. We sell authorized products, to HP authorized customers, in authorized territories, in line with HPs policy guidelines. We have an authorised contract with HP that permits the sale of certain printer lines and supplies to approved Iranian customers. We have a separate contract for Iran and we are allowed to sell a certain type of products, which they classify as EAR99. Under the terms of the contract, Redington is authorised to fulfil and execute sales of specific printer lines to approved Iranian customers in Jebel Ali or the UAE, he explained. (Middle East Company News Wire, Redington Gulf strongly reacts to misleading reports, January 20, 2009) Hewlett-Packard Co. said late Thursday that it would stop a distributor from selling its products in Iran. The computer and printer maker acknowledged that it knew the sales were occurring despite trade sanctions on Iran, but maintained it did nothing illegal and was halting the practice to go beyond the letter of the law. The Boston Globe reported last week that HP could be in violation of U.S. export laws because of an arrangement it had with Redington Gulf, a technology distributor in the Middle East, to sell HP printers in Iran. (Associated Press, HP says it will stop distributors sales in Iran, Jordan Robertson, January 8, 2009) HP printers have become a top seller here, despite a comprehensive embargo that prohibits the California-based company from sending its products to Iran the lions share of HP printers, among the most visible of US goods here, come not through smugglers, but through a series of international transactions that enable HP to sidestep US sanctions. In 1997, two years after President Clinton banned trade with Iran, HP struck a partnership with a newly formed company in Dubai to sell its products in the Middle East. At the time, the company, called Redington Gulf, had only three employees and its sole purpose was to sell HP supplies to the Iran market, says a history on Redington Gulfs website and Rajesh Chandragiri, the administrative manager in Redington Gulfs Dubai office. (Farah Stockman, HP uses third party to sell printers in Iran, Boston Globe, December 29, 2008)

"Emirates Telecommunications Corp ETEL.AD (Etisalat) said on Tuesday a consortium it is part of would pay 300 million euros ($402.1 million) to acquire a mobile phone licence in Iran and was in talks to buy an operator in Iraq. The group would invest at least $1 billion into building infrastructure in Iran and was looking to begin operations within nine months, possibly earlier, said Jamal al-Jarwan, chief executive of Etisalat International Investments." (Reuters, "Emirates Telecom to pay $402 mln for Iran licence," 1/13/09)

But while the franchise and meat counter deals help further its domestic position, the Canadians estimate that 35% of Al Islami revenue now comes from exports, and the company set out in 2006 that it wants to expand further into global markets. Acting on this goal, last year it entered into a joint venture with the UKs 3663 First for Foodservice, set up a food processing venture in Iran, and also launched its Al Islami cart franchise in both Malaysia and Egypt. (Business Middle East Select, "Food, beverages and tobacco: UAE," 3/16/08)

UAE-based food producer Al Islami will open its $6.8m, 30,000 sqft plant in Irans Kish island in May 2007, Retail News Middle East reported. The factory will be capable of producing more than 200 metric tonnes of meat a month, CEO Saleh Abdullah Lootah told the publication. The company plans to open a second factory in Iran in the next couple of years. (Middle East Retail and Leisure News Wire, "Al Isalmi to open Iranian plant," 4/12/07)