Page 55 - IRANRptMay21

Iran moves into world’s top 10 steel producers ranking
Iran sanctions lapses cost US steel company $435,000
Iran is now among the top 10 steel producers in the world, according to the World Steel Association (WSA), Mehr News Agency reported.
WSA data showed Iran produced 2.3mn tonnes of steel in February, up 11.5% y/y. That gave it 10th place in the ranking. Also, the country’s steel output was 5mn tonnes in January-February, marking a 10.8% y/y expansion.
China ranked first for steel production in February with 83mn tonnes. India and and Japan were second and third, with 9.1mn tonnes and 7.5mn tonnes, respectively.
Steel production in European Union countries hit 11.9mn tonnes in February 2021.
To export to the EU, Iran must often negotiate claims from European steelmakers of dumping.
The US Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) has announced a $435,003 settlement with Oklahoma-based manufacturer and designer Alliance Steel on apparent violations of Iran sanctions.
The alleged violations related to Alliance’s importation of services from an Iranian engineering company. OFAC deemed the case to be “non-egregious.” Alliance describes itself as a US domestic business where it sells its products exclusively to domestic consumers. The company does not export goods or services, and does not market itself outside the US, the settlement noted. Nevertheless, from on or about October 1, 2013 to on or about October 22, 2018, the firm violated two parts of the Iranian Transactions and Sanctions Regulations (ITSR) on at least 61 occasions by engaging with the Iranian engineering company, OFAC said.
OFAC was originally set to fine the company $725,004 but Alliance settled at $435,003, after negotiations.
“Numerous senior Alliance officials were involved in the process of approving each transaction and issuing checks to the Iranian engineering company” the judgement concluded.
It added: “Alliance asserts that, because the company otherwise operates entirely within the United States, these management officials were ‘not attuned to the laws and regulations administered by OFAC’.”
Only when a new CEO joined Alliance in October 2018 did the company immediately halt the relationship with the Iranian company and self-disclose the apparent violations to OFAC.
“This enforcement action demonstrates the importance of developing and maintaining effective, risk-based sanctions compliance controls, even for companies operating predominantly within the United States,” OFAC stated. “U.S. companies can risk violating OFAC regulations if they undertake even isolated or sporadic international business or contracting activities, and do not conduct basic regulatory diligence or have adequate personnel or policies to comply with U.S. sanctions requirements.”
9.1.12 Defence sector news
On February 1, Iranian state TV aired the launch of Iran’s newest satellite-carrying rocket, which it said was able to reach a height of 500 kilometres (310 miles).
The footage of the solid-liquid-fueled rocket showed the launch taking place during daytime in a desert environment.
The rocket, named Zuljanah for the horse of Imam Hussein, the grandson of the Prophet Muhammad, did not launch a satellite into orbit. The satellite
55 IRAN Country Report May 2021 www.intellinews.com