Huawei, a major Chinese supplier of telecommunications equipment, is in hot water over the potential sale of US technology to Iran, which Washington describes as “breach of American trade codes”.
According to a subpoena sent to Huawei, the US Department of Commerce has demanded that the company turn over all information regarding the possible export of American tech to Cuba, Iran, North Korea, Sudan, and Syria, news weblog Android Authority reported recently.
Although Huawei has not formally been accused of any wrongdoing, this investigation is holding a serious microscope up to the company to determine whether the Shenzhen-based smartphone maker broke US export controls, it added.
Richard Yu Chengdong, the chief executive of Huawei’s consumer group, recently revealed that the Chinese smartphone maker had ambitions to surpass both Samsung and Apple within the next five years, establishing themselves as the leading smartphone company in the world.
The Commerce Department’s move comes three months after the US government acted to block American exports to China’s second-largest maker of telecommunications gear, ZTE Corp., over allegations that it re-sold American technology to Iran.
This is while all nuclear-related anti-Tehran sanctions were terminated after Tehran and the Group 5+1 (Russia, China, the US, Britain, France, and Germany) on July 14, 2015, finalized a comprehensive nuclear deal known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) and implemented it on January 16.
Iranian officials have repeatedly warned against US potential lack of commitment to the terms laid down in the JCPOA and believe such moves demonstrate that Washington has failed to make good on its side of the bargain.
End/ Tasnim