Chinese firm’s partner ‘offered US tech to Iran’

An Iranian partner of Huawei Technologies, a Chinese company that has denied breaking US sanctions, last year tried to sell embargoed American antenna equipment to an Iranian firm, according to documents and interviews.

The buyer — an Iranian mobile-phone operator — says it cancelled the deal with Huawei when it learnt the items were subject to sanctions and before any equipment was delivered. Huawei, the world’s second-largest telecoms equipment maker, uses products from a US company, Andrew, in some of the systems it sells.

Documents show that Soda Gostar Persian Vista, a Tehran-based supplier of Huawei equipment in Iran, had offered to sell to MTN Irancell 36 cellular tower antennas made by Andrew for €14,364. The equipment was to be delivered in Tehran on Feb 3, to “Huawei warehouse ready for installation,” according to a MTN Irancell purchase order dated Nov 30, 2011.

Huawei, based in Shenzhen, has an agreement with CommScope — which owns Andrew — to purchase Andrew antennas and other equipment and use the products in Huawei systems, according to CommScope. The antennas were part of a large order for Huawei telecommunications gear that MTN Irancell had placed through Soda Gostar, the documents show.

Washington has banned the sale of US technology to Iran for years. Huawei said in a statement that it complies with US law and also requires third parties like Soda Gostar “to follow applicable laws and regulations.” This month, the US House Intelligence Committee criticised Huawei for failing “to provide evidence to support its claims that it complies with all international sanctions or US export laws”.

South Africa’s MTN Group, which owns 49% of MTN Irancell, said the Iranian telecoms firm had requested 36 German-made antennas not subject to sanctions but that “Huawei, through its local partner Soda Gostar, mistakenly provided details of US-manufactured” antennas.

“This was later identified as an error and as a result the tender request was cancelled with Huawei and the German goods obtained from a local reseller,” Paul Norman, MTN’s corporate affairs officer, said. “The incident is illustrative of the strong processes in place in MTN and Irancell to ensure compliance” with US sanctions.

Vic Guyang, a Huawei spokesman, acknowledged that MTN Irancell had cancelled the order. He added, “We did not participate in the delivery of this project because Huawei has been and continues to be in strict compliance with all relevant international and local laws and regulations.”