US slaps trade ban on ZTE over Iran links

Control issue

The US doesn't want others to gain any advantage. Also, at every opportunity they want to push their laws on other countries.

The story goes that ZTE were buying Cisco kit and other US-brand stuff on the export banlist, then onselling it.

Never mind that the devices were likely made in china and never saw US shores.

Re: Iranian sanctions?

Not at all.

There are 10+ sanctions acts on the USA statute book against Iran. So USA lifting the nuclear part of the sanctions means totally bugger all as far as doing business with Iran. You can still fall under the sanctions (this is just off the top of my head) regime on: missile development, the bombing of Buenos Aires Jewish center of 1994, Hezbollah support and god knows what else. This is even if we do no count the Iranian Nuclear Program Congress anti-Obama Sour Grapes Act of 2015 (aka H.R.158 - Visa Waiver Program Improvement and Terrorist Travel Prevention Act).

So from the perspective of doing business with Iran - you still have a choice of doing business with Iran or doing business in/with USA. This is one of the reasons why no EEA major bank has announced full lifting of restrictions on financial operations with Iran. They are still being operated in "special checks" mode (if at all).

In the specific case of ZTE and Co this also is specifically aligned to internal US telecoms politics. Part of it is bog standard anti-competitive, the other part is the rabid paranoia shaking the US 3 letters after they went to the Chinese vendors for the same special feature sets as used in the Snowdenian revelations and got an immediate quote and availability back.

What goes around, comes around and especially with chaos, what you give is what you get in spades.

I struggle to keep track - I thought they were our friends again now. Or are they not? Or are they our friends and not Americas friends? Or are America not our friends?

I don't understand international politics :\ .... Dan Wilkie

When all of what you have said is correct, do you appear to understand international politics extremely well, Dan Wilkie. The spread of confusion and chaos to hide the truth and control of virtual realities remotely.

IT aint rocket science. It is much more explosive than that.

However, as is being proven by media and news tales, in the hands, hearts and minds of the intellectually challenged is such a command program a ticking suicidal time bomb which blows up in the faces of controllers at all of the most inconvenient and previously thought impregnable and untouchable of places and spaces.

C'est la vie and karma and AI at ITs Work.

Maybe this helps: Countries do not have friends. Countries have interests. (Attibuted to Henry Kissinger, and I for one wouldn't put it past him. Oh, Henry Kissinger, how I'm missing yer...)