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“The Manitowoc Company, Inc. is a multi-industry, capital goods manufacturer with over 100 manufacturing and service facilities in 27 countries. It is recognized as one of the world's largest providers of lifting equipment for the global construction industry, including lattice-boom cranes, tower cranes, mobile telescopic cranes, and boom trucks. Manitowoc also is one of the world's leading innovators and manufacturers of commercial foodservice equipment serving the ice, beverage, refrigeration, food prep, and cooking needs of restaurants, convenience stores, hotels, institutions, and healthcare facilities” (The Wall Street Journal, "The Manitowoc Company to Participate in J.P. Morgan Diversified Industries Conference,"June 1 2010).

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The company also describes itself as "a leading provider of shipbuilding, ship repair, and conversion services for government, military, and commercial customers throughout the U.S. maritime industry" (Company website).

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Convotherm, a foodservice manufacturer and subsidiary of Manitowac, lists a contact person for sales in Iran on its website. (Subsidiary website)

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Scotsman Ice, a leading global ice manufacturer, is a subsidiary of Enodis, a foodmaking equipment company and subsidiary of the Manitowoc Company.  On the company’s website, Scotsman lists three distributors in Tehran. (Subsidiary website)

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Bio Enzyme Persia, an authorized distributor of medical and laboratory equipment in Tehran, features the Scotsman logo on its website. (Iranian Dealer website)

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In a 2002 press release, Manitowoc stated its plan to create a customer focused sales area in the Middle East, including Iran in the list of countries: “The Middle East (Egypt, Iran, Iraq, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Syria, Lebanon, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, Yemen, Oman, Qatar, Bahrain, Kuwait, Azerbaijan, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, as well as Turkey for tower cranes), which will be managed, by David Semple for the tower crane line and by Hamid Summers for both mobile and crawler cranes, from Dubai” (Manitowoc Press Release, "Manitowoc Crane Group announces new organization structure for the Europe, Middle East and Africa region," February 28, 2002).

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Manitowoc Crane Group followed up its announced sales plan for the Middle East market with a regional distributors' conference in 2005. "Manitowoc Crane Group staged its first Middle East regional distributors’ conference in November 2005, at the Oasis Beach Hotel, in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. The event was an opportunity for Manitowoc Crane Group to meet with its local Grove dealers and discuss the fast-growing Middle East market.

"The conference included representatives from Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, UAE, Kuwait, Jordan, Syria, Lebanon, Egypt, Iran, Oman, Qatar, and Iraq with companies such as Kanoo Machinery, Equipment Company, Orascom Trading, ETCO, Tolitech, Arabian Crane Services, Mannai Trading, and Boranex all sending delegates" (Manitowoc Crane Group News Release, "Middle East Meeting for Grove Dealers," January 6, 2006).

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One of the companies represented at the conference, Toli Tech, is an Iranian construction company with an office in Tehran (Iranian Company Information).

Gigabyte is a Taiwanese computer hardware manufacturer, specializing in motherboards. “Our reputation as a pioneer in motherboard innovation has allowed us to diversify our product range to include graphics cards, notebooks, desktop PCs, PC components, cellular phones, server and datacenter solutions, and more” (Company website).

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Avajang, an Iranian IT distributor, features the Gigabyte logo on its homepage, and lists several news articles on Gigabyte motherboards throughout the page. (Avajang website)

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Gigabyte lists Avajang as one of its Middle East distributors. (Company website)

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ITP.net describes Gigabyte market activities in Iran and the Middle East: “Golden Systems acts as Gigabyte’s sole distributor for the UAE and Iran, while the vendor has multiple partnerships for other Middle East markets. Gigabyte enjoys high market share in Iran and is looking to replicate that success in both Saudi Arabia and Egypt” (ITP.net, "Gigabyte plans regional base", 10/19/04).

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Gigabyte has its own page through Iran ICT news, featuring news on its products and Gigabyte’s place in the Iranian market. (Gigabyte Iran ICT News website)

US troops boarded a German-owned freighter in early October and found eight containers full of ammunition, allegedly headed to Syria from Iran. The shipment is in violation of a UN weapons embargo and has become a source of chagrin in Berlin... The incident is particularly awkward for Berlin as the Hansa India is registered to the Hamburg-based shipping company Leonhardt & Blumberg. Investigators suspect that the arms were part of an Iranian shipment bound for either the Syrian army or for Hezbollah, the militant Islamist group. US officials have pointed out that the delivery is in violation of United Nations Security Council Resolution 1747, which prohibits arms shipments either into or out of Iran. According to Leonhardt & Blumberg, the 243-meter-long (297-foot-long) ship has for years been under charter to the state-owned shipping company Islamic Republic of Iran Shipping Lines. Two US warships halted the Hansa India after receiving a tip-off from intelligence services. (Der Spiegel, "German Ship Transporting Arms for Iran," 10/12/09)

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Meanwhile, it has emerged that IRISL-chartered containership Hansa India also stopped and boarded by the US Navy in the Suez Canal last week, at which point American security personne found seven containers loaded with 7.62mm calibre bullet casings suitable for for Kalashnikov rifles, as well as an eighth container loaded with blanks that could be used for the manufacture of projectiles. The 1994-built vessel is German-flagged and is associated with Hamburg-based Leonhardt & Blumberg, although it has been chartered by IRISL for some years. Frank Leonhardt, chief executive of Leonhardt & Blumberg, was not immediately available for comment... The delivery is in apparent violation of UN Security Council Resolution 1747, which prohibits arms shipments either into or out of Iran. (Lloyd's List, "IRISL hit with UK nuclear sanctions," 10/12/09)