US Sanctions Hit Iranian Steelworks
US imposed sanctions on 20 Iranian entities October 16, including Mobarakeh steel company which signed a major deal with Spanish Tubacex in May 2017.
According to the contract, the two companies are to establish three firms, two in Esfahan city and the other in Kish Island, to produce corrosion-resistant alloy (CRA) pipes to the National Iranian Oil Company (NIOC).
NIOC signed a €550mn ($636mn) deal with a 50-50 joint venture between Mobarakeh steel company and Tubacex May 24 to purchase 600 km CRA pipes, needed for the giant South Pars project. The sulphur content of the field is 5,000 parts per million.
US withdrew from the nuclear deal with Iran in May 2018 and since then has been reinstating sanctions on Iran one by one and blacklisting further companies and individuals. At that time, Iran said that 50 km of CRA pipes has been already delivered for use in the South Pars.
Tubacex has refused to comment but it had told NGW in May 2018 that “after [US president] Donald Trump announced his decision to leave the nuclear deal, it would be premature to give an opinion, especially considering the international reactions.”
Iran announced last week that four new phases of South Pars would be ready for grid connections by winter.
The US Treasury Department imposed sanctions on 20 Iranian entities for providing financial support to the Basij Resistance Force (Basij), a paramilitary force subordinate to Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC). “Among other malign activities, the IRGC’s Basij militia recruits, trains, and deploys child soldiers to fight in IRGC-fuelled conflicts across the region," it said.
The department said that Mobarakeh is the largest steel-maker in the Middle East and North Africa region and is used as a revenue stream for Bonyad Taavon Basij’s economic conglomerate. “Esfahan’s Mobarakeh steel company has provided millions of dollars each year to Mehr Eqtesad Iranian Investment Company, an entity with close ties to the Basij and its Bonyad Taavon Basij,” it said.