By Gregory Viscusi
Bloomberg — Iran has changed the names of companies involved in its nuclear program and has created a new set of front companies to avoid sanctions imposed by the UnitedNations, an exile group said.
"These schemes are proof that the regime intends to pursue its nuclear goals right to the end," said Afchine Alavi, a spokesman for the National Council of Resistance of Iran, at a press conference in Paris.
Farayand Technique Co., one of the companies under UN sanctions, has changed its name to Technology of Centrifuge of Iran, Alavi said, and another company, Pars Trash Co., has become Rah Avard Kalaey Iran Co. Alavi showed maps of Tehran with the purported new addresses of the two companies which he said havekept the same management as their previous incarnations.
Alavi also provided the names of five new front companies –Tamin Tajhizat Sanayeh Hasteieh, Shakhes Behbood Sanaat Co.,Mohandesi Toseh Sokht Atomi Co., Sookht Atomi Reactorhaye Iran,and Modieriat Saakht Niroogahaye Atomi — the Iranian regime is using to evade sanctions. He said he didn’t know if they had succeeded in procuring any goods covered by the sanctions.
The UN Security Council unanimously voted Dec. 23 to impose sanctions on Iran over its atomic program, imposing a 60-day deadline to halt uranium enrichment or face new, stronger measures. The sanctions listed specific people and organizations.
The NCRI is an umbrella organization of exiled Iranian opposition groups that periodically releases information about Iran’s nuclear program that it says comes from its supporters within the country.
