Telecommunications

"China’s Huawei Technologies acted to cover up its relationship with a firm that had tried to sell prohibited U.S. computer gear to Iran, after Reuters in 2013 reported deep links between the firm and the telecom-equipment giant’s chief financial officer, newly obtained internal Huawei documents show. Huawei has long described the firm - Skycom Tech Co Ltd - as a separate local business partner in Iran. Now, documents obtained by Reuters show how the Chinese tech titan effectively controlled Skycom." (Reuters, "Exclusive: Huawei Hid Business Operation In Iran After Reuters Reported Links to CFO," 6/3/2020). 

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"U.S. authorities allege CFO Meng Wanzhou deceived international banks into clearing transactions with Iran by claiming the two companies were independent of Huawei, when in fact Huawei controlled them. Huawei has maintained the two are independent: equipment seller Skycom Tech Co Ltd and shell company Canicula Holdings Ltd.

But corporate filings and other documents found by Reuters in Iran and Syria show that Huawei, the world’s largest supplier of telecommunications network equipment, is more closely linked to both firms than previously known.

The documents reveal that a high-level Huawei executive appears to have been appointed Skycom’s Iran manager. They also show that at least three Chinese-named individuals had signing rights for both Huawei and Skycom bank accounts in Iran. Reuters also discovered that a Middle Eastern lawyer said Huawei conducted operations in Syria through Canicula.

The previously unreported ties between Huawei and the two companies could bear on the U.S. case against Meng, who is the daughter of Huawei founder Ren Zhengfei, by further undermining Huawei’s claims that Skycom was merely an arms-length business partner." (Reuters, "Exclusive: New documents link Huawei to suspected front companies in Iran, Syria," 1/8/2019).

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"A Hong Kong-based firm that attempted to sell embargoed Hewlett-Packard computer equipment to Iran's largest mobile-phone operator has much closer ties to China's Huawei Technologies than was previously known, corporate records show. Cathy Meng, Huawei's chief financial officer and the daughter of company founder Ren Zhengfei, served on the board of Hong Kong-based Skycom Tech Co Ltd between February 2008 and April 2009, according to Skycom records filed with Hong Kong's Companies Registry. Reuters reported last month that in late 2010, Skycom's office in Tehran offered to sell at least 1.3 million euros worth of HP gear to Mobile Telecommunication Co of Iran, despite U.S. trade sanctions. At least 13 pages of the proposal were marked 'Huawei confidential' and carried Huawei's logo. Huawei said neither it nor Skycom ultimately provided the HP equipment; HP said it prohibits the sale of its products to Iran." (Reuters, "Exclusive: Huawei CFO linked to firm that offered HP gear to Iran," 1/31/2013)

"The Spanish satellite company Hispasat has stopped airing Press TV and Hispan TV as of Friday December 21 and ordered Overon, another satellite company, to follow suit. Hispasat’s removal of the Islamic Republic state channels comes after a similar move by the French company Eutelsat, which also owns part of Hispasat... Iran says that Hispan TV is officially registered in Spain and has been operating under the media regulations of that country." (Radio Zamaneh, "Sanctions cause problems for Iranian channels," 12/22/2012)

"The proposal to MobinNet for the Huawei lawful-intercept system states that it includes technology from a German company called Utimaco Safeware AG. Utimaco says Huawei is one of its worldwide resellers but that neither MobinNet directly - nor Huawei on behalf of MobinNet - purchased or licensed its products. The proposal also states that Huawei equipment at another Iranian telecom had 'already successfully integrated with' an Utimaco product 'and accumulated rich integration experience, which will be shared.' The other Iranian telecom isn't named but Malte Pollmann, Utimaco's chief executive officer, confirmed that in 2006, Nokia's German unit had purchased Utimaco software for MTN Irancell, Iran's second-largest mobile phone operator which has a major contract with Huawei. He said the product hadn't been maintained for several years and that Utimaco believes it no longer is being used. MTN Irancell is 49 percent owned by South Africa's MTN Group, Africa's largest telecom carrier. It declined to comment about the Utimaco product.'" (Reuters, "Special Report: How foreign firms tried to sell spy gear to Iran," 12/4/2012)

"A Tel Aviv-based civil rights group accused UK satellite operator Inmarsat Plc over the weekend of admitting it provides its technology to Iranian oil tankers. Shurat HaDin (Israel Law Center) warned Inmarsat last month that the company could risk civil as well as criminal proceedings in US courts if it did not stop supplying its guidance services to Iranian military vessels and tankers. Rich Harris, Inmarsat’s senior vice president told Shurat HaDin that the group’s allegations had no basis, and that Inmarsat is not violating sanctions. According to Harris, after the British government privatized Inmarsat in 1999, the company was obliged to continue its 'public service obligations' to 'ensure the continuity of maritime satellite distress and safety communications services' for the UN’s Global Maritime Distress and Safety System. Inmarsat was obliged to provide all ships with distress communications systems 'without discrimination on the basis of nationality,' Harris noted. In response, Shurat HaDin director and civil rights activist Nitsana Darshan-Leitner said that Inmarsat could still be in violation of sanctions, despite its UN obligations . . . The warning letter came in the wake of recent US Treasury Department sanctions against Iranian vessels, imposed last month . . . In a July 26 interview with Space News, Inmarsat spokesman Christopher McLaughlin had said that 'some of these ships [on the Treasury Department list] nonetheless appear to be using older Inmarsat gear,' while noting that the company is not informed as to the identity of its customers, because of its history as an international treaty organization. In that interview, McLaughlin said that these were 'heritage services' installed before its distribution partners had to inform it of its customers’ exact identities." (Jerusalem Post, "Shurat HaDin: UK company servicing Iran tankers," 8/5/12)

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"A Tel Aviv-based civil rights group warned on Wednesday that satellite operator Inmarsat could face criminal prosecution if it continues providing its technology to Iranian oil tankers. In a letter to Inmarsat, Shurat HaDin (Israel Law Center) said the company could risk civil as well as criminal proceedings in US courts if it did not stop supplying its guidance services to Iranian military vessels and tankers. Shurat HaDin's director, and civil rights activist, Nitsana Darshan-Leitner said the warning letter came in the wake of recent US Treasury Department sanctions against Iranian  The sanctions, imposed earlier this month, identify by name 58 National Iranian Tanker Company (NITC) vessels. The US Treasury Department said that identifying the vessels would help companies and individuals comply with sanctions against Iran and undermine Iran's attempts to use NITC front companies to evade sanctions. Twenty-eight of the vessels named by the US Treasury Department appear on Inmarsat's shipping directory as being in receipt of the company's services . . . According to Jane's Intelligence Weekly,  the Telecommunications Company of Iran (TCI), is the Islamic Republic's national signatory to Inmarsat.  Iran's Revolutionary Guards have effectively taken over Iran’s telecommunications company, TCI, after the Mobin Trust Consortium, a company partially owned by the Guards, won a 2009 tender. Meanwhile, other documents available on Inmarsat's website list TCI as a Point of Service Activation (PSA), the company's term for an entity that has concluded a contract with Inmarsat for its C or Mini C satellite system, used by vessels for two-way communication. In its letter to Inmarsat, Shurat HaDin say that providing aid to Iran is illegal." (Jerusalem Post, "Shurat HaDin warns UK operator over Iran deals," 7/25/12)

"Bahrain will stop broadcasting its channels on satellite operator Arabsat to protest an Iran-led 'hostile' media campaign, the state news agency BNA reported on Saturday. 'The information Affairs Authority (IAA) decided to stop broadcasting Bahrain bouqet on Arabsat, starting from June 1,' BNA said quoting an English language statement. IAA criticised Arabsat for failing to heed repreated requests to take an 'official measure' against Iranian channels which also broadcast Arabsat... The IAA said it had 'repeatedly requested' Arabsat to take measures against Iranian channels since February 2011, when a month-long Shiite-led uprising began in Bahrain against the regime. 'The executive body of Arabsat did not respond to these requrests,' said the statement. In 2009, Saudi-based Arabsat and another Arab satellite operator, Nilesat, briefly stopped broadcasting Arabic-language Iranian channel Al-Alam." (AFP, "Bahrain to quit Arabsat to protest Iran channels," 5/30/2012)
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"Iran is jamming broadcasts by Qatar-based news channel Al-Jazeera, satellite operator Arabsat said in a statement received Tuesday... The satellite television on Sunday announced a new frequency for Arabsat viewers due to 'continued interference.'" (European News Centre, "Iran jamming Al-Jazeera: Arabsat," 1/11/2012)

"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)

"Other Western satellite companies, including Intelsat SA and Telesat Holdings Inc., still carry IRIB's channels." (The Wall Street Journal, "A Top Satellite Provider Cuts Off Iran State Broadcaster," 10/15/2012)

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"IRIB broadcasts not only in Persian but in Arabic—on its Al Alam channel—and in English on its Press TV. Besides Eutelsat, companies it uses include Intelsat SA, Telesat Holdings Inc. and AsiaSat, a Hong Kong-based operator in which General Electric Co. has a stake... Telesat, which also says it isn't aware of being jammed, does carry BBC Persian but the satellite that carries the channel isn't widely watched in Iran." (The Wall Street Journal, "In Skies Over Iran, a Battle for Control of Satellite TV," 12/27/2011)

On Monday, United Against Nuclear Iran (UANI) applauded the British telecommunications company Arqiva, and European Satellite provider Eutelsat, for taking 19 Iranian television and radio stations off the European airways, effective today. (10/15/2012)

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"Satellite provider Eutelsat agreed with media services company Arqiva to block the Irib channels as of Monday morning because of 'reinforced EU council sanctions' Eutelsat spokeswoman Vanessa O'Connor said. Irib's access to Eutelsat was via a contract with Arqiva." (Fox News, "European satellite provider cuts off 19 Iranian TV and radio stations because of EU sanctions," 10/15/2012)

"Iran uses international companies to provide the infrastructure for its broadcasting and telecoms services, even as it ramps up its attempts to prevent civilian Internet use and jams broadcasts from international news networks, including the Voice of America and BBC Persian.

Arqiva facilitates the regime-controlled IRIB’s Persian television transmissions as well as its English-language outlet Press TV and Al-Alam in Arabic, according to UANI…In a recent letter to Arqiva, UANI president Kristen Silverberg warned the British company that it could run afoul of recent US sanctions legislation if it continues to provide services to IRIB. The most recent legislation, passed in April, sanctions entities that have sold or provided goods, services or technologies to Iran or Syria likely to be used to facilitate computer or network disruption, monitoring or tracking.

The pressure group also accused Arqiva of acting contrary to the position on Iran of the British government, which opposes human rights abuses.

'By facilitating IRIB’s broadcast of libelous programs and hate speech against religious minorities, forced confessions of peaceful dissidents and civil society activists, and “show trials” of political prisoners, Arqiva is serving to further the Iranian regime’s campaign of persecution and repression against its own citizens,' Silverberg wrote." (The Jerusalem Post, "UK firm ‘facilitating Iran’s human rights abuses'," 6/14/12)

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"European satellite companies like Eutelsat, Intelsat and Arqiva provide extensive services to the Iranian state-owned Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting (IRIB), including for domestic Iranian radio and television broadcasts, and for Iran's growing list of foreign-language channels, like the English-language PressTV and the Arabic Al-Alam... It has not stopped carrying IRIB channels on its satellites, which are facilitated through Arqiva, even though the Iranian government is effectively destroying the products of its other clients... Over the past two years, during which Iran increased its jamming of Persian-language broadcasts from abroad, Eutelsat and Arqiva have done little to hold the Iranian government accountable." (The Wall Street Journal, "Broadcasting Tehran's Repression," 12/9/2011) 

According to its Form 20-F filed with the U.S. SEC on May 31, 2019, "BT has a contract in place with Telecommunication Infrastructure Company (TIC), to make and receive voice calls from Iran to the UK." (SEC, "Form 20-F", 3/31/2019). 

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In a letter to CalPERs dated November 3, 2017, BT Group confirmed it is not engaged in the business activities targeted by the California Public Divest from Iran Act. 

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In 2017, the U.S. state of California listed BT on its state list of companies under review for Doing Business with the Iran.

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BT lists on its website that it has a sales representative in Iran, Sepahan Lifter Company. (BT website, "About Us, BT in the World")

Sepahan Lifter company lists on its website that it is functioning under a BT Sweden license. (Sepahan Lifter website, "About Us")