South Africa

SPI International Proprietary Limited

Industry
Chemicals
Country
South Africa
Sources

On March 18, the U.S. Department of State imposed sanctions, pursuant to Executive Order (E.O.) 13846, on SPI International Proprietary Limited for knowingly engaging in a significant transaction for the purchase, acquisition, sale, transport, or marketing of petrochemical products from Iran. (U.S. Department of State, "Sanctions on Entities Trading in or Transporting Iranian Petrochemicals," 3/18/2020). 

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"The Mokran petrochemical complex, located at the south eastern Chabahar coastal area, will be the third-largest petrochemical base in Iran, after Bandar Imam and Asaluyeh.

“We have developed several scenarios in investment, partnership and financing. Foreigners can own up to 100% of the plants or can join Iranian investors as their local partner,” Reza Ebadzadeh, CEO of SPI International Proprietary Ltd (SPII), a subsidiary of SHASTAN, which owns nearly one quarter of petrochemical sector of Iran, said in an email interview.

SHASTAN is the master developer of the Mokran Petrochemical Hub, as well as the owner of three plants plus utility (nine different packages) within the Mokran Area, while SPII is in charge of funding arrangement for SHASTAN’s mega projects." (ICIS, "Iran building third-biggest petchem complex in Mokran," 1/24/2017).

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"On 16 August 2013, Sasol Investment Company (Pty) Limited, a wholly owned subsidiary of Sasol, entered into a definitive sale and share purchase agreement pursuant to which Main Street 1095 (Pty) Limited, a South African subsidiary of an Iranian investor, completed and effected the acquisition of 100% of the shares of SPI International (Pty) Limited (“SPII”)(“Transaction”).  SPII is the indirect owner of a 50% interest in Arya. 

As described in our most recent trading statement of 1 August 2013, the fair value of Sasol’s investment in Arya was written down to R2,3 billion.  This was based on our assessment of the fair value of Arya as well as the accounting requirement to recognise operating profits of approximately R1,6 billion for the second half of the 2013 financial year. 

As a result of this Transaction, Sasol has no on-going investment in Iran." (Sasol, "SASOL DISPOSES OF ITS INVESTMENT IN THE IRANIAN JOINT VENTURE ARYA SASOL POLYMER COMPANY (“ARYA”)," 8/19/2013). 

Engen Botswana Limited

Industry
Energy
Country
South Africa
Sources

On March 24, 2015, Engen Botswana was added to the Florida State Board of Administration List of Prohibited Investments (Scrutinized Companies) due to its involvement in Iran. As of March 9, 2021, Engen Botswana remains on the SBA list of prohibited investments. 

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In 2020, the U.S. state of Mississippi listed Engen Botswana on its state lists of Companies Doing Business with the Iranian Petroleum/Natural Gas, Nuclear and Military Sectors, rendering it ineligible for investment and/or state contracting.

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As of May 28, 2020, the Florida State Board of Administration (“SBA”) continues to list Engen Botswana on its list of “Scrutinized companies with Activities in the Iran Petroleum Energy Sector.” 

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on January 13, 2020, the South Dakota Investment Council submitted a report to the Executive Board of the Legislative Research Council regarding compliance with SDCL 4-5-48 to 4-5-60, Iran Divestiture. Included in this report is an Iran Scrutinized Companies list of all prohibited investments for which the internal managers and direct external managers are instructed not to purchase any company on the list. Engen Botswana is included on this list.

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As of December 31, 2019, the Alaska Retirement Management Board lists Engen Botswana as a company doing material business with Iran.

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Engen Botswana is listed on the June 4, 2019 and July 12, 2019 Florida State Board of Administration list of prohibited investments (Scrutinized companies) for Iran related business.

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Engen Botswana is listed on the June 2019 Alaska Retirement Management Board, Companies Doing Material Business with Iran list.

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On March 13, 2019, the Mississippi Department of Finance & Administration identified Engen Botswana as a company “engaged in investment activities in Iran, providing funds, goods or services valued at $20,000,000 or more in the energy sector of Iran.

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Engen Botswana is listed on the March 2019 Alaska Retirement Management Board, Companies Doing Material Business with Iran list.

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In 2015, 2016 and 2017 Engen Botswana was listsed on the Texas Pension Review Board List of Scrutinized Companies doing business in Iran pursuant to Chapter 807.054, Government Code.  

Acrobits

Industry
Telecommunications
Country
Czech Republic
Sources

Acrobits confirmed to UANI that they did consider going to present its technology, but decided not to participate.

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Acrobits is listed as one of the companies participating as an exhibitor at the Iran Telecom Innovations conference from September 25-28, 2016, in Tehran, Iran. (List of Exhibitors).

Afripipes

Industry
Telecommunications
Country
South Africa
Sources

"Anubhav Singh, the head of global sales and marketing at South African telecommunications-equipment maker Afripipes, said his company was halting its postdeal exploration of the Iranian market as a result of Mr. Trump’s election. “We’re waiting to see what Trump’s policies are with respect to Iran and then take it from there,” he said... Smaller companies, because of their size, can’t as easily absorb losses from ventures that have to be scrapped because of sanctions. In the past, U.S. sanctions have had a chilling effect on companies dealing with Iran because some of them apply on any company with American connections." (The Wall Street Journal, "Trump Victory Slows Business Investment in Iran," 1/18/2017).

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Afripipes has expressed interest in the Iranian market, noting that “Iran is a big market and there’s potential there….”  However, Afripipes’ head of global sales and marketing, Anubhav Singh, rightly sounded a cautious note in the wake of the election of President-elect Trump by adding, “we’re not sure how the sanctions are going to go….  We are being cautious and seeing how things pan out in the next five or six months.”  (Wall Street Journal, “Boeing Seals Nearly $17 Billion Iran Deal,” 12/11/2016). 

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Afripipes is listed as an exhibitor at the Iran Telecom Innovations Conference that took place from September 25-28, 2016, in Tehran, Iran. (Iran Telecom Innovations Exhibitor List, 2016).

Main Street 1095 (Pty) Ltd.

Industry
Energy
Country
South Africa
Sources

 

"Sasol Ltd. (SOL), the world’s biggest coal-to-gasoline producer, sold its stake in an Iranian unit after writing down the value of the business. Sasol sold its 50 percent stake in Arya Sasol Polymer Co. to Main Street 1095 (Pty) Ltd., a South African subsidiary of an Iranian investor, the Johannesburg-based company said today in a statement, without disclosing a price." (Bloomberg, "Sasol Sells Stake in Arya Iranian Polymer Unit to Main Street," 8/19/13)

Engen

Industry
Energy
Country
South Africa
Sources

"Refiners in South Africa include Shell, BP, Total, Chevron, petrochemicals group Sasol , and Engen, majority-owned by Malaysian state oil group Petronas. BP, Chevron, Sasol and Engen said earlier this year that they have either stopped or were not sourcing any Iranian crude. Trade data from March showed, however, that imports of Iranian crude had gone up from the previous month. " (Reuters, "S.Africa keen to replace Iranian crude with Nigerian," 5/24/2012)

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"Petronas' South African unit Engen said on Wednesday it had halted all imports of crude from Iran after deciding the sanctions placed on the Middle Eastern country were a risk to its security of supply. 'We have been working on diverting our supply since identifying Iran as a risk,' said Engen spokeswoman Tania Landsberg. Engen, the biggest South African buyer of Iranian crude, is majority-owned by Malaysian national oil company Petronas. While Landsberg would not comment on when Engen stopped imports, a Petronas source told Reuters last month Engen had stopped buying Iranian oil from March." (Reuters, "Petronas S.Africa unit Engen ends Iran crude imports," 4/4/2012)

 

PBT

Industry
Telecommunications
Symbol
JSE : PBT
Country
South Africa
Contact Information
Sources

"The company’s data warehouse is outsourced to an SA company, PBT. According to the source, 'PBT simply provides a data warehousing function. In other words, they extract data and provide data-mining functions for product development, market segmentation, etc. MTN owns the data, so they don’t really have a choice.'" (Tech Central, "Iran ‘puts the screws’ on MTN," 4/5/2012)

Icarus Marine

Industry
Manufacturing
Country
South Africa
Contact Information
Sources

"A company co-owned by a close aide to former apartheid president PW Botha helped Iran evade American sanctions by sneaking a James Bond-style speedboat through South Africa last year.... The US Federal Register published a notice three months after the incident, slapping trade restrictions on the parties allegedly involved. As background, it said the commerce department had sent initial restriction notices to two Iranian entities and a Cape Town company, Icarus Marine, on that Friday, warning them not to proceed with the re-export -- but to no avail. Icarus Marine is a small design consultancy co-owned by its managing director, Shawn de Villiers, and naval architect Gunther Migeotte. The US still regards Icarus Marine as a culprit, as a further notice in June this year placed it and its Norwegian sister company, Icarus Design, on an 'entity list' of persons "acting contrary to the national security or foreign policy interests of the United States." (Mail & Guardian, "How SA company oiled Iran's war machine," 9/24/2010)

Scavenger Manufacturing

Country
South Africa
Contact Information
Sources

In January 2009, "[Scavenger Manufacturing] co-owned by a close aide to former apartheid president PW Botha helped Iran evade American sanctions by sneaking a James Bond-style speedboat [the Bradstone Challenger] through South Africa last year. Willem "Ters" Ehlers, a former navy officer and Botha's private secretary, is no stranger to apartheid-era embargo-busting. Now his company has shipped the speedboat to Iran, where the elite Revolutionary Guard is mass-producing it as an attack craft armed with torpedoes and missiles.... The transaction appears not to have broken United Nations sanctions targeting Iran's nuclear programme, but United States export restrictions on Iran were violated, as the speedboat contains controlled US "dual-use" components.... [S]hipping sources confirmed that [Scavenger Manufacturing] was the 'shipper' of the speedboat -- the formal term for the party responsible for the cargo -- as it transited South Africa." (Mail & Guardian, "How SA company oiled Iran's war machine," 9/24/2010) 

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On August 10, 2010, Rear Admiral Ali Fadavi, of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps navy announced the "receipt of 12 speedboats equipped with missiles and torpedoes": "'[It] is a British ship that holds the world speed record. We got a copy [on which] we made some changes so it can launch missiles and torpedoes... in case of a conflict, we will be everywhere and nowhere to face the enemies.'" (Mail & Guardian, "How SA company oiled Iran's war machine," 9/24/2010)