Ndeal: US decides to impose sanctions against Indian firms

By agencies   |   Friday, 28 July 2006, 19:30 IST
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WASHINGTON: The Bush administration has decided to impose sanctions on two Indian firms for "dual-use items related to missiles" transactions with Iran, U.S. officials said on Thursday. The disclosure came after the U.S. House of Representatives late on Wednesday overwhelmingly agreed the United States should sell nuclear technology to India and rejected a move by critics to delay the vote over concerns, New Delhi had not sufficiently helped the United States to contain Iran. The United States considers Iran, a patron of the Hizbollah Islamic militant group fighting Israel in Lebanon -- a major international threat, accusing it of building nuclear weapons under cover of an energy program. Tehran has denied the charges. Under terms of the U.S. Iran-Syria Non-proliferation Act, "we are going to report to Congress about transactions by two private Indian companies with Iran," one official said, but did not reveal the identity of the Indian firms. Previous sanctions included Indian firms that sold chemicals, controlled by the Australia Group of nations seeking to limit the spread of chemical and biological weapons, to Iran's missile-production industry. The administration is mandated by law, to report violations of the act, to the Congress every six months, although sanctions are discretionary they won't be waived in these cases, the other official said.