ICYMI: European Businesses Found By UANI Operatives At Highly Restricted Iran Oil Show In Tehran

(New York, N.Y.) — This week, United Against Nuclear Iran (UANI) disclosed that it had again successfully dispatched operatives to Tehran to infiltrate the Iran Oil Show in May 2022 to document the abundance of European and Asian oil and gas companies continuing or hoping to conduct business in Iran. In an op-ed published on Tuesday by The New European, UANI Advisory Board Member and former Head of Counter-Terrorism at the UK Foreign Office Sir Ivor Roberts outlined the implications of these businesses pursuing opportunities in the Iranian market.

“Sanctions imposed by the United States in 2018 effectively disbarred Tehran’s integration with global markets. However, the lure of quick, which is not to say ethical, profits has convinced a plethora of businesses surreptitiously to enter the Iranian market, hoping their activity would fly under the radar of Washington’s sanctions regime.”

“This is not simply a matter of private international companies trading with private Iranian companies. The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) is heavily involved in the Iranian oil and gas sector, and two of its companies, Khatam al-Anbiya and Sadra, were found displaying at the Oil Show.”

Khatam al-Anbiya (KAA) serves as the IRGC's engineering arm and primary means of hijacking the Iranian economy. By some estimates, KAA has grown into Iran's largest company: its 812 subsidiaries employ approximately 40,000 people and have won over 17,000 no-bid contracts, primarily in the energy sector. KAA is heavily involved in constructing the Qom and Fordow nuclear facilities.

Sadra, aka Iran Marine Industrial Company, is an Iranian naval-industrial giant that is 51.18% controlled by the KAA and IRGC. The company builds ships, docks, and floating oil rigs, and has been awarded huge government contracts and assistance.

Sir Ivor also warned that evidence gathered by UANI indicates that European companies at the Oil Show were dealing in “potentially dual-use equipment and materials,” which have come under increasing scrutiny. The Iranian regime has for years successfully procured merchandise from abroad that have been used as components in weaponized drones downed in Ukraine, where they had been used by the Russian military to attack civilians.

Following the Iran Oil Show, UANI began contacting each of the foreign companies identified as participating and shared visual evidence. Each was asked to explain their involvement, disclose any business initiated, and clarify any existing Iranian operations.

To read Sir Ivor’s op-ed in The New European, please click here. 

To explore UANI’s Iran Business Registry, please click here.

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