Ardess International

Trading
USA

[email protected]

"On its Web site, Ardess International boasted of its ability to do business 'with any country in the Middle East notwithstanding any trade sanctions.' Ardess handles a number of companies that sell weight-lifting products like Anabolic Rush, which promises to help bodybuilders 'train with a ferocity that radiates from every corner of the gym.' Kenny Flores is a customer of Ardess whose company, MRM, sells sports performance-enhancing supplements like Driven, a high-performance workout concoction for 'serious athletes that truly want to reach peak performance, while annihilating their competition.' Mr. Flores said getting approval from the Iranian Ministry of Health to sell his products there was harder than getting approval from OFAC, but that it was well worth the effort. 'Iran is a young country - close to 60 percent of the population is under 45 years of age, and they are very health conscious,' he said, noting that his company had done hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of business there since obtaining the necessary approvals. Mr. Flores said Iran's nuclear ambitions are 'scary' and something that 'I'm definitely concerned about.' But, he added, 'as long as the government says it is O.K. to trade with them, we will trade with them.'" (New York Times, "Licenses Granted to U.S. Companies Run the Gamut," 12/24/10)