U.S. warns five firms over deals with Iran

U.S. warns five firms over deals with Iran

ROME (Reuters): The United States on Friday warned five non- U.S. companies, including Bakrie Group of Indonesia, that they were running the risk of real sanctions if investigations found any of their business dealings with Iran contravened U.S. law.

U.S. Undersecretary of State for Trade Stuart Eizenstat said the action was aimed at preventing Iran from acquiring technology Tehran could use to build long-range or medium-range missiles, especially chemical and biological warheads.

Speaking at the end of a transatlantic business conference in Rome, Eizenstat emphasized that no evidence of such business dealings by the five companies had yet been found, but if they were, sanctions were a "real option".

The five companies he referred to were: Russia's Gazprom, Malaysia's Petronas, France's Total SA, Canada's Bow Valley and Indonesia's Bakrie Group .

"We are investigating those (companies) thoroughly, completely and calmly...if they are found to be sanctionable, which has not been found yet because we are still investigating, sanctions are a real option," he told reporters.

Executives at Bakrie Group in Jakarta refused to comment on the report yesterday.

Eizenstat said U.S. sanctions teams had been in Paris, Moscow and Ottawa this week and would travel to Jakarta and Kuala Lumpur by the end of the month.

The action was being considered under U.S. legislation designed to curb foreign investment in Iran, one of the countries Washington considers to be sponsoring terrorism.

He said if the companies were found to be contravening the law, three courses of action were available -- to impose sanctions, to waive sanctions or introduce a 90-day provision to allow for a diplomatic initiative.

The United States was working closely with European Union states, Russia and China to try to curb the threat of proliferation, Eizenstat said.