Big Companies pulling out of Iran

Some major finance and energy companies are cutting commercial ties with Iran due to US sanctions rules.

WASHINGTON - Some major finance and energy companies are cutting commercial ties with Iran as US authorities step up enforcement of existing sanctions and international diplomatic pressure builds over Tehran's nuclear ambitions, a US newspaper reported on Tuesday.

Dutch banking group ABN Amro and the UBS bank of Switzerland announced last week that they would halt business operations in Iran and the US energy services company Halliburton severed links last year.

The US Justice Department is investigating all three firms for possible violations of US sanctions against Iran, the Wall Street Journal reported, citing lawyers, securities filings and unnamed sources familiar with the probe.

ABN Amro last month admitted to improper transactions with Iran through a branch in Dubai and agreed to pay 80 million dollars in fines.

Other major firms still operating in Iran are also under scrutiny, including HSBC bank, Standard Chartered, and BNP Paribas, the paper wrote.

Federal authorities are conducting several sweeping sanctions inquiries, looking at compliance with US sanctions against Iran, Iraq, Libya, Sudan and Cuba, the report said.

The investigations are examining whether European banks with branches in New York adhered to US sanctions and prohibitions against individuals or firms designated as having links to terrorism.

US enforcement of the sanctions has become stricter following demands from lawmakers in Congress in 2004, the paper reported.

"In the past, they have been lax," said Karim Sadjapour, an analyst with the International Crisis Group told the daily.

Iran faces mounting international concern over its nuclear program, which Western governments suspect is a cover for a weapons project. Tehran insists it is a purely peaceful program designed to generate electricity and has threatened to cut back on oil exports if UN Security Council members choose to impose sanctions.

Foreign ministers from Britain, China, France, Russia and the United States agreed in London on Tuesday to have Iran referred to the UN Security Council over its disputed nuclear program. In a compromise demanded by Russia, UN action would be put off until at least March.