Food and Beverage

Iranian food services company Kadivar Group advertises itself as the sole representative of numerous European companies, including MF-Hamburg, on its homepage.

"It threatens to jeopardize the trade with them, hurting both India and Iran," Anil K. Mittal, chairman of KRBL Ltd, a leading Indian rice miller and exporter, told Reuters." (Reuters,"Exclusive: Iran defaults on rice payments to India," 2/7/2012)

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"Anoop Kumar Gupta, joint managing director at KRBL Ltd. (KRB), an Indian rice exporter, comments on outlook for shipment of basmati rice and sales to Iran." (Bloomberg, "India Rice Exports to Iran to Drop on Payment Delay, KRBL Says," 8/19/2011)

In November 2017, Iran discussed bilateral cooperation in the field of air industries with Antonov company CEO. Iran and Antonov company have been cooperating in the production and operation of aircrafts for two decades.

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"The Persian Gulf country will buy two Ukrainian-made Antonov-158s, after a test flight of the aircraft earlier this month, Mohammad-Ali Sirati, managing director of the Iranian aircraft company, was cited as saying by the official Islamic Republic News Agency. The countries then will start to jointly build the aircraft next year, Sirati, whose company will be in charge of the project, said in Tehran yesterday. Some 30 percent of each plane will be made in Iran, state-run media reported." (Business Week, "Iran Says Antonov-158 Built With Ukraine May Fly in 2013," 10/6/2011)

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Antonov lists on its website that their AN-24 turboprop aircraft is serially produced at HESA plant in Isfahan, Iran. (Antonov website)

Over the last three presidential administrations, the United States government has granted Del Monte 11 special licenses to do business in Iran. (New York Times, "Companies with Permission to Bypass Sanctions," 12/24/10)

"The chewing gum manufacturer, owned by Mars Inc., was licensed to export its products to Iran and Sudan. OFAC redacted the names of the entities buying the products. A company spokeswoman, Kelly McGrail said: 'Mars Incorporated and its subsidiaries, including Wrigley, operate in full compliance of all state, federal and international regulations. We provide our products to consumers all over the world. At this time, Mars and Wrigley sell products to consumers in Sudan, Iran and Libya in full compliance with all U.S. regulations, including the Office of Foreign Assets Control licensing regime. We will, of course, continue to monitor the actions of the U.S. government on this matter and comply with any changes in regulation.'" (New York Times, "Licenses Granted to U.S. Companies Run the Gamut," 12/24/10)

"This license authorized Wild Flavors, which describes itself on its Web site as one of the largest privately-held ingredient suppliers to the food and beverage industry, to export cream powder and cheese powder to Iran under a humanitarian exception for agricultural and medical products." (New York Times, "Licenses Granted to U.S. Companies Run the Gamut," 12/24/10)

"This license authorizes NutraSweet to export its artificial sweetener to Iran. The company contended that NutraSweet's products qualify as agricultural commodities for which a license should be granted under the agriculture and medical humanitarian sections because its sweeteners are 'food additives for humans,' one of the definitions listed in the regulations. The company, which received licenses in other years as well, was authorized to sell to the following entities in Iran: Zam Zam Iran Company, Pars Minoo Ind. Co., Choco Parstoo Co., Iran Zak, the Sasan Company and the Nooshab Company, all in Tehran; the Farabi Pharmaceutical Company in Isfahan; and the Dadash Barador Company and the Shirin Asal Food Ind. Co. in Tabriz." (New York Times, "Licenses Granted to U.S. Companies Run the Gamut," 12/24/10)

"Spice giant McCormick has agreed to stop selling its spices to Iran, following the efforts of a Baltimore Jewish activist. Jay Bernstein, an attorney and community activist, read in The New York Times article last December that despite sanctions against Iran, the U.S. Treasury was still allocating licenses to American companies to conduct business with the Islamic Republic. One of those companies, he learned, was the Baltimore-based McCormick & Co., founded in 1889 by a Jewish immigrant. 'It seemed that what we could do is draw attention to McCormick and get them to reconsider,' Bernstein said... Jim Lynn, McCormick’s director of corporate communications, told the Baltimore Jewish Times that McCormick distributes its spices to some 100 countries. But he said the company could not get assurances by certain parties that the products would not be sold by companies connected in some ways to companies that had been blacklisted, so McCormick decided not to sell in Iran." (JTA, "McCormick stopping spice sales to Iran," 4/13/11)

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"McCormick & Company was licensed to sell a range of products, including spices, seasonings, salt substitutes, dips, marinades, food colorings, edible cake decorations, icings, imitation vanilla extract and salad toppings, to a number of stores in Iran under the broadly written exemption for agricultural products. Though OFAC and the State Department are required by law to vet the companies that are buying even benign products to make sure they are not involved in international terrorism, The New York Times found that a number of the Iranian companies listed on the application as the end purchasers of McCormick's goods were in fact connected to entities that the United States has blacklisted for their involvement in Iran's nuclear and ballistic weapons programs and connection to terrorist activities. Take Refah, the largest supermarket chain in Iran. Its shareholders, according to Refah's website, include the Iranian Bank of Saderat, and Bank of Sepah, the Bank of Melli and Bank Tejarat. The Bank of Saderat was blacklisted by OFAC for serving as a conduit between the Iranian government and various terrorist organizations, including Hezbollah and Hamas. The Bank of Sepah was blacklisted for serving as 'the financial linchpin' of Iran's efforts to procure a 'missile capable of carrying weapons of mass destruction.' The Bank of Melli and Bank Tejarat were blacklisted for similar activities. Shahrvand, another of the chain stores listed in the McCormick license application, is owned by the government of Tehran. Both Refah and Shahrvand were once run by Ali-Akbar Mehrabian, according to the Iranian press. Mr. Mehrabian is President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's minister for industries and mines, and a close adviser believed to be instrumental in smoothing the way for the sale of government-owned assets to the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps, an arm of the Iranian military that the United States has also blacklisted for its involvement in the Iranian nuclear program. And a third chain store, Ghods, is closely linked with the Guards; many top officials in the organizations are former Guards officers. A McCormick spokesman, Jim Lynn, said that the company has held this license for several years, but that 'we were not aware of the information you shared with us, and we are looking into it.' OFAC's director, Adam J. Szubin, acknowledged that it did not appear as though background checks had been done in this case. But, he said, given his limited resources, they were better spent on stopping weapons technology from reaching Iran. 'Are we checking end users? Yes. But are we doing corporate due diligence on every Iranian importer? No,' Mr. Szubin said. 'I don't think that would be the best use of our Farsi speakers and our Iranian intelligence analysts.' He added that even if the links had come to light, he still might not have had the authority to deny the license. That's because Congress drafted the law mandating that licenses be issued for agricultural products in such a way that they can be denied only if it can be shown that the purchasers are more than 50 percent owned by entities engaged in terrorism." (New York Times, "Licenses Granted to U.S. Companies Run the Gamut," 12/24/10)

Over the last three presidential administrations, the United States government has granted Mars 10 special licenses to do business in Iran. (New York Times, "Companies with Permission to Bypass Sanctions," 12/24/10)

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"This license allowed the company to export confectionery, ice cream, packaged consumer food products and pet care products to Iran. OFAC redacted the actual brand names and the names of the ultimate buyers. A company spokeswoman, Kelly McGrail, said: 'Mars Incorporated and its subsidiaries, including Wrigley, operate in full compliance of all state, federal and international regulations. We provide our products to consumers all over the world. At this time, Mars and Wrigley sell products to consumers in Sudan, Iran and Libya in full compliance with all U.S. regulations, including the Office of Foreign Assets Control licensing regime. We will, of course, continue to monitor the actions of the U.S. government on this matter and comply with any changes in regulation.'" (New York Times, "Licenses Granted to U.S. Companies Run the Gamut," 12/24/10)

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"The chewing gum manufacturer, owned by Mars Inc., was licensed to export its products to Iran and Sudan. OFAC redacted the names of the entities buying the products. A company spokeswoman, Kelly McGrail said: 'Mars Incorporated and its subsidiaries, including Wrigley, operate in full compliance of all state, federal and international regulations. We provide our products to consumers all over the world. At this time, Mars and Wrigley sell products to consumers in Sudan, Iran and Libya in full compliance with all U.S. regulations, including the Office of Foreign Assets Control licensing regime. We will, of course, continue to monitor the actions of the U.S. government on this matter and comply with any changes in regulation.'" (New York Times, "Licenses Granted to U.S. Companies Run the Gamut," 12/24/10)

"This license allowed Kraft to sell the following products to Iran: biscuits, cereal, confectionery, coffee, cheese, powdered beverages, mayonnaise, desserts, cooking ingredients, cake premixes, dressings and cakes. OFAC redacted the names of the Iranian importers. The company also received a license to sell its products in Sudan." (New York Times, "Licenses Granted to U.S. Companies Run the Gamut," 12/24/10)