UANI

"In July 2007, this Houston-based oil-drilling and oil field services company announced in a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission that it had been notified that the Bureau of Industry and Security and Department of Justice were investigating allegations of improper sales of products and services in sanctioned countries. Weatherford subsequently announced plans to get out of Iran, as well as Sudan, Syria and Cuba. This license authorized the company to enter into dealings to make good on that promise. A similar license was issued enabling the company to withdraw from Sudan." (New York Times, "Licenses Granted to U.S. Companies Run the Gamut," 12/24/10)

"The European Union in July imposed unprecedented sanctions against Iran's energy and financial sectors. But despite the crackdown, some European companies continue to sign up for business deals in Iran that may be both directly and indirectly supporting Iran's nuclear-weapons development. Take the example of Ceresola TLS. According to a hard copy of the confirmation of a contract we have obtained, the Swiss firm recently signed an agreement worth over €1 billion with Rahab Engineering Establishment in Tehran. According to the contract, Ceresola has agreed to provide Rahab with tunneling technology to facilitate the construction of a metro line in Iran. But in the past, the regime in Tehran has used similar agreements to help hide its nuclear-weapons program. Although the confirmation order lists the deal as a project for a metro line, obtaining heavy earth-moving equipment and technology is also a top priority for Iran's nuclear program." (Wall Street Journal, "Iran's European Helpers," 9/29/2010)

Conducts business in Iran and with U.S banks. (Avi Jorisch, "Iran's dirty banking," 2010) 

"Transocean Ltd., the world’s largest offshore oil driller, said it may have violated U.S. sanctions when goods bound for a company-owned rig in Turkmenistan traveled through Iran.

The equipment was shipped through Iran by a freight forwarder, Vernier, Switzerland-based Transocean said today in a filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. The potential violation was detected by the company’s internal compliance program and was reported to the U.S. Treasury Department.

'Failure to comply with applicable laws and regulations relating to sanctions and export restrictions may subject us to criminal sanctions and civil remedies, including fines, denial of export privileges, injunctions or seizures of our assets,” Transocean said intoday’s filing.'

It’s against U.S. law to export U.S.-origin items to Iran, Transocean said in the regulatory filing."(Bloomberg, "Transocean Says It Shipped Goods Through Iran," 11/3/2010)

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Transocean is the world's largest offshore drilling contractor. It employs a workforce of 20,000 and specializes in deepwater drilling. Transocean is contracted by the world's largest energy companies, and managed BP's Deepwater Horizon platform at the time of the Gulf oil spill disaster (Company Website). 

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The New York Times reports that Transocean's SEC filings indicate that the company ships equipment through Iran, and additionally has ties to other sanctionable countries including Syria and Myanmar. 

"The State Department placed Naftiran, a subsidiary of Iran's national oil company, on a financial blacklist, barring it from doing business with or in the United States or with US institutions...The US accusses Iran of using revenue from...Naftiran to fund its suspect nuclear program and to hide purchases of dual-use equipment and technology" (AP, "US hits Iranian energy firm with sanctions," 9/30/2010). 

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Naftiran is an Iranian government-funded energy company based in Switzerland that has recently undertaken a number of lucrative joint ventures with European oil companies. Naftiran posted revenues of $21.9 billion in 2008, and buys the vast majority of Iran's petroleum imports. It is becoming increasingly clear that Naftiran plays a vital role in Iran's global economic strategy, and U.S. officials believe that Naftiran's investment decisions are at least partly made by the Iranian parliament (Time, "Sleeping with the enemy," 6/16/2010).

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Most concerning are Naftiran's joint ventures with British Petroleum. In the North Sea, BP and Naftiran subsidiary Iranian Oil Company are 50-50 joint partners in the Rhum gas field project, which generates 1% of the UK's daily consumption, or $1 million of natural gas per day. The total value of the Iranian Oil Company's projects in the North Sea is $794 million (Time, "Sleeping with the enemy," 6/16/2010).

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Naftiran has also partnered with BP in the Shah Deniz gas field in Azerbaijan, a project that now produces 8 billion cubic meteres of natural gas per year - one of the largest gas fields in the world. BP owns 25.5% of this venture, while Naftiran owns 10%. ConocoPhillips-owned Lukoil also holds 10%. The second phase of Shah Deniz is expected to produce $16 billion, and Naftiran plans to invest $1.7 billion (Time, "Sleeping with the enemy," 6/16/2010).

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Naftiran is a major BP shareholder, with over $775 million in shares. The company also retains complete ownership of the Hood gas field in the North Sea, and maintains joint projects with Shell in Senegal (Company Website). 

Zurich Financial Services is an insurance-based financial services provider based in Switzerland, operating in over 170 countries (Company Website). 

Zurich Financial Services lists Iran in its Global Directory (Company Website), and is included in Business Monitor International's Iran Insurance Report (Business Monitor International, subscription required). 

Zurich Financial Services's corporate responsibility policy states that the company "proactively addresses social, environmental and governance issues of rightful concern to our stakeholders" (Company Website).

Iranian suppliers of Mettler-Toledo products, according to the company website. (Company Website)

In a correspondance with the SEC in 2009, Logitech International disclosed details of their business in Iran.

"The software and services that were downloaded or used by persons in Iran allow users to have access to: (1) streaming media hardware products to access Internet radio stations and stream their digital audio files from their personal computer to the product; (2) web cameras (or, in certain cases, those of other manufacturers) to initiate or receive video calls from personal computers; and (3) universal remote control products to select, from a database, the audio-visual devices used by the user, to download the infrared or radio-frequency codes associated with the remote controls for such devices, and to choose the order in which the devices are turned on or off, according to the user’s preferences." (CORRESP for LOGITECH INTERNATIONAL SA, 10/2/2009)

"Foster Wheeler, an engineering and construction firm that provides services to the oil and gas industry, did business in Iran until 2006, when it told the Securities and Exchange Commission it was withdrawing. It used to be a United States-based company, but moved in 2001 to Bermuda, which allowed it to avoid United States corporate income taxes, and has since moved again to Switzerland."

While the company was performing business in Iran from 2000 to 2006, Foster Wheeler was the recipient of $199 million in U.S. federal funds. (The New York Times, "Profiting from Iran, and the U.S.", 3/6/10)

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The company is listed as subcontractor for the South Pars Field Phase 6.7. & 8 (Petropars website)

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"According to "Tehran Times", U.S.-based engineer Foster Wheeler is optimistic about business prospects in Iran, according to its executive president Gianni Bachiddu. According to Middle East Economic Digest (MEED), he said there was a "tremendous amount" of engineering and project management consultants coming from both the National Iranian Oil…" (IPR Strategic Business Information Database, "US's Foster Wheeler Optimistic over Iran's Prospects", 3/20/2002)