DAR AL HARB/ISLAM - THE WEST/EAST & IRAN: INVESTMENTS IN IRAN

US think tank details global investment in Iran

Companies and government agencies in three dozen countries have struck more than $153 billion in deals with Iran since 2000, investment that could offer important leverage to help persuade Tehran to abandon its nuclear program, a new study says.

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During the period studied, French companies were the leading investor in Iran at $30.2 billion, followed by China at $29.5 billion, Germany at $26 billion, Italy at $23.7 billion, Japan at $18.3 billion, Austria at $18 billion, the Netherlands at $13.6 billion, South Korea at $13.27 billion, Britain at $12.78 billion and India at $9.9 billion.

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Even the US, which has had trade sanctions on Iran for nearly 30 years, posted $4.2 billion in investments.

The sanctions were imposed after fundamentalist students held 52 Americans hostage for 444 days at the US embassy in Tehran during the 1979 Islamic revolution.

Pletka said US firms took advantage of loopholes that allowed them to conduct business through subsidiaries, as did Halliburton -- which recently completed its work in Iran -- or to assert, like Coca Cola and PepsiCo., that they were providing needed foodstuffs.

Other companies and government agencies cited by AEI included France's Calyon Corporate and Investment Bank, the Italian national export credit agency SACE, China National Non-Ferrous Metals Industry Corp., Germany's Linde AG and Japan's Chiyoda.

China, which needs new energy supplies to support its booming economy, was Iran's number one trading partner in 2005 -- the last year for which trade figures were available -- after four consecutive years as number two.

In 2005, Italy was the number two trading partner and also the number one guarantor of government export credits to Iran. Japan, Iran's number one trading partner in 2000-2004, was ninth in 2005. Tokyo has been under strong pressure from Washington to curb its dealings with Iran.

Spokesmen for the US State Department and Treasury Department say they were unaware of any comprehensive US government analysis of US and international investment in Iran despite the fact that their agencies play central roles in the US-led effort to increase pressure on Tehran's leaders.

Conflict Securities Advisory Group, a Washington-based global security risk consultancy, keeps a file on more than 300 companies doing business in Iran but the information is for clients.
The US and its allies have accused Iran of developing a nuclear weapon but Tehran insists it is only trying to produce nuclear energy.


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1) US think tank details global investment in Iran