ZTE earlier admitted to exporting controlled products to Iran in violation of the US embargo, and settled with the US with a fine of nearly US$ 654.38 billion, which was the largest export control violation fine in American history. However, the United States also blacklisted Shi Lirong, the former CEO of ZTE, and imposed severe restrictions. The U.S. Department of Commerce believes that Shi Lirong is involved in approving the shipment of controlled equipment to Iran bypassing export control.
On the 29th, ZTE reported the details of the US government's export restrictions: four companies, including three ZTE entities, became the targets of restrictions.
Following the notification on March 7th that the U.S. government intends to take restrictive measures, ZTE announced on the morning of March 9th that it was informed that the Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) of the U.S. Department of Commerce decided to add ZTE Corporation (hereinafter referred to as ZTE listed entity), ZTE Kangxun Communication Co., Ltd. (Shenzhen ZTE Kangxun Electronics Co., Ltd.), ZTE eparsian (ZTE Iran Co., Ltd.) and Beijing Eight Star International Co., Ltd. (Beijing Eight Star Co., Ltd.) to the entity list.
ZTE said that as of the date of this announcement, it has been and will continue to actively cooperate with relevant US government departments to conduct investigations and actively communicate with relevant US government departments to seek solutions. At the same time, it is comprehensively evaluating the potential impact of the restrictions under this decision on the Group's business and operations.
20 12 foreign media reported that ZTE signed a contract with Iran worth millions of dollars, which stipulated that ZTE would provide the hardware and software of top American technology companies to Iran's largest telecom operator.
According to the report, the top American technology companies mentioned above include Microsoft, IBM, Oracle Bone Inscriptions and Dell, but the latter all said they didn't know the Iranian contract.
The US Department of Commerce has since launched an investigation into this matter, focusing on whether ZTE has obtained products from the above-mentioned top technology companies and sold them to Iran.
According to foreign media reports, the U.S. Department of Commerce finally obtained an internal information about ZTE's aforementioned export plans to Iran, but senior officials of the U.S. Department of Commerce refused to comment on whether ZTE has implemented these plans.