Chinese firm ZTE to pay U.S. $892 million for breaking Iran sanctions

The Chinese firm ZTE Corp. has agreed to pay the United States $892 million and plead guilty to violating U.S. trade sanctions against Iran, the Justice Department said Tuesday.

The department said the company had illegally shipped sensitive U.S.-made equipment to Iran.

Atty. Gen. Jeff Sessions said the company “not only violated export controls that keep sensitive American technology out of the hands of hostile regimes like Iran’s,” but it also “lied to federal investigators and even deceived their own counsel and internal investigators about their illegal acts.”

According to legal documents, ZTE obtained the banned goods over a six-year period and shipped them to customers in Iran, knowing that the sales violated the sanctions. ZTE entered a guilty plea and also settled charges with the Commerce and Treasury departments.

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