Huawei’s struggle against the US government seems to have taken yet another turn. The company is supposedly being investigated by the Department of Justice for violating sanctions against Iran; something that could lead to severe penalties and a possible ban.
The US has taken a recent stance against Huawei’s products. Somewhat fueled by the fact that the founder of the company once worked for the Chinese government. American intelligence chiefs have advised their government to avoid engaging with the company for contracts, and has even recommended that government employees avoid buying Huawei phones.
This suspicion of possible espionage has lead to the collapse of a deal that would being Huawei devices to US telcos. A move that is important as this is the avenue with which most Americans buy their smartphones.
On its part, Huawei says that it complies with all applicable laws and regulations in the countries where it operates. This includes any possible sanctions from the US, EU, and UN.
Huawei is not the first Chinese company to be investigated for violating Iran sanctions. ZTE is currently facing a seven year supply ban for selling its devices in the Middle Eastern country.
It’s somewhat uncertain as to whether Huawei has actually supplied anything to Iran. China doesn’t actually have any sanctions on the country, and shipping Chinese technology would not directly violate US sanctions. Although the US government could use it as evidence to launch further investigations into Huawei. It doesn’t help that the scope of the current probe is unclear, and nobody is sure what the DOJ is actually looking into.
[Source: Wall Street Journal]
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