One of Britain's biggest companies has made millions of pounds
selling goods to Iran, including to a state-owned firm that
supplies the regime's nuclear program, U.K. daily The Guardian
reported on its website Sunday.
Glencore International PLC (0805.HK, GLEN.LN, GLNCY), a
commodity trading house run by the billionaire Ivan Glasenberg,
traded $659 million of goods, including aluminium oxide, to Iran
last year, the Guardian reported.
The company, which is one of the biggest businesses in the FTSE
100, has admitted that some of its aluminium oxide ended up in the
hands of Iranian Aluminium Company, according to The Guardian.
Trafigura, another commodity trading house, has also admitted to
trading an unspecified aluminium oxide (also known as alumina) with
Iralco in the past, The Guardian said.
The International Atomic Energy Agency has named Iralco as
supplying aluminium to Iran Centrifuge Technology Company, which is
part of the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran, The Guardian said.
Aluminium oxide is an important material in gas centrifuges used to
enrich uranium, The Guardian said.
At the time of the Glencore and Trafigura trades with Iralco, it
was not illegal or a breach of sanctions to supply Iran with
alumina, The Guardian said. It is unknown whether Glencore or
Trafigura's alumina passed from Iralco to Iran Centrifuge
Technology Company, or whether it was used in centrifuge
construction, The Guardian added.
Write to Dennis Baker at dennis.baker@dowjones.com
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