Daimler-Chrysler pulls out of Iran

[Regis Philbin]

http://money.cnn.com/2007/02/12/news/companies/daimlerchrysler.reut/index.htm?cnn=yes

DaimlerChrysler to exit Iran

The No. 5 auto maker will divest it's Mercedes distributor, reacting to pressure to not to do business in Iran, a magazine reports.

February 12 2007: 12:48 PM EST

FRANKFURT (Reuters) -- DaimlerChrysler intends to divest its majority stake in the company that is its exclusive distributor for Mercedes-Benz vehicles in Iran, Germany's WirtschaftsWoche magazine reported on its Web site.

"The group is reacting to the growing pressure that the United States is applying on companies that do business in Iran," the magazine said Monday, without giving a source for its information.

It said DaimlerChrysler would sell its 51 percent stake in marketing group Setareh in the next few weeks.

DaimlerChrysler, the world's fifth-biggest car maker thanks to the 1998 merger of Germany's Daimler-Benz with U.S. automaker Chrysler, declined comment.

Washington has been stepping up pressure on Iran, which it accuses of harboring ambitions to develop nuclear weapons. Iran insists its nuclear energy program is for peaceful purposes.

[Richard Tafoya]

Did Halliburton ever pull out?

From 2005:
http://www.marketwatch.com/News/Story/Story.aspx?guid=%7B9C0AE3B3%2D8A65%2D4883%2D97C1%2D0ADF2F78B BF3%7D&siteid=myyahoo&dist=myyahoo&print=true&dist=printTop


Halliburton set to begin work in Iran
By Lisa Sanders, CBS.MarketWatch.com
Last Update: 4:14 PM ET Jan 11, 2005

DALLAS (CBS.MW) -- Halliburton, under investigation for its operations in Iran, is set to begin oilfield services work in that country as a subcontractor for Oriental Kish, a spokeswoman said Tuesday.

Halliburton shares closed at $38.19, up 35 cents.
Halliburton spokeswoman Wendy Hall said that she did not know the value of the contract and noted that Oriental had won the contract, not Halliburton. Halliburton's products-and-services division is to help Oriental Kish, which is based in Iran, develop the South Pars natural-gas field.

"Halliburton's business is clearly permissible under applicable U.S. laws and regulations," Hall said. "Also, we are in the service business, not the foreign-policy business. We have followed and will continue to follow applicable laws."

She added that Halliburton has no ownership in Oriental Kish and had played no role in its creation.

Because of Iran's suspected links to terrorism, U.S. companies are severely restricted in their dealings with the country. The 1996 Iran-Libya Sanctions Act limits companies to an investment of $20 million or less a year in Iran's oil and gas sectors, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration.

However, "separately incorporated foreign subsidiaries are not included in the definition of U.S. persons under the current Iranian executive order," a U.S. Treasury official said. "If a U.S. person is involved, that person may be in violation of the sanctions."

The Halliburton unit is registered in the Cayman Islands as Halliburton Products and Services.