The US Treasury Thursday slapped sanctions on 24 shipping companies, including 20 in Hong Kong, for allegedly operating as fronts for Iranian businesses involved in Tehran's missile programs.

The Treasury said the shipping firms were affiliated with the Islamic Republic of Iran Shipping Lines (IRISL), which is under international sanctions for its role in Iran's weapons program.

It also designated two companies tied to the Iranian defense ministry's Aerospace Industries Organization (AIO), which has been linked to the country's ballistic missile program.

The Treasury's move, aimed at putting pressure on Iran's alleged nuclear weapons program, will cut off the designated firms from the US financial and commercial systems.

"IRISL is under tremendous financial pressure from international sanctions, and it is going to extreme lengths to obscure its network and the ownership of vessels," the Treasury's sanctions czar Stuart Levey said in a statement.

"Today's designations expose the latest in a string of deceptive measures Iran is taking to continue its illicit conduct."

Twenty of the 24 shipping companies were tied to two addresses in Hong Kong.

Four of those were owned and managed by Ahmad Sarkandi and Ghasem Nabipour, who were already designated by the US last October for working on IRISL's behalf, the Treasury said.

Another 16 of the Hong Kong firms were said to be owned or controlled by IRISL, and operated a number of vessels on behalf of the Iranian shipping group.

The other four shipping companies share registered addresses on Britain's Isle of Man with other IRISL-linked firms.

The two AIO-tied companies were identified as Shahid Ahmad Kazemi Industries Group and M. Babaie Industries.

The Treasury said Shahid Ahmad Kazemi Industries was "suspected of soliciting foreign technology for Iran's missile programs and participating in North Korea's missile-related programs."

M. Babaie was listed under the sanctions for "being owned or controlled by, or acting for or on behalf" of AIO.

The US has stepped up its efforts to isolate Iran-linked commercial entities tied to its military development programs since the UN Security Council placed a fourth set of sanctions against Iran in June 2010.

The UN acted after Iran refused to halt its uranium enrichment work, the most sensitive part of Tehran's controversial atomic drive.

But Tehran insists it is only seeking to meet the energy needs of its population in its nuclear programs.

Speaking in Abu Dhabi on Monday, US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton defended the sanctions, saying they have made it difficult for Iran to pursue its nuclear program.

"They have made it much more difficult for Iran to pursue its nuclear ambitions. Iran has technological problems that have made it slow down its timetable," she said.

earlier related report
EU to discuss nuclear issue despite Iran refusal
Istanbul (AFP) Jan 13, 2011 - EU chief diplomat Catherine Ashton Thursday said the nuclear controversy with Iran would figure in global talks here next week despite Tehran's refusal, as Russia urged Iran to clear up "grey areas."

"I'm very clear that we are coming to discuss the nuclear issue and that is what we will do," Ashton told reporters after meeting with Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu.

"Our purpose in meeting is to now look for tangible credible ways to make a move forward..." she added.

Ashton's spokeswoman earlier said non-nuclear issues were on the agenda at the last meeting between Iran and the United States, China, Russia, France, Britain and Germany in Geneva.

Ashton, who represents the six powers in the nuclear talks, was in Istanbul to prepare for the January 21-22 meeting about which she appeared upbeat.

"Another meeting in two months after Geneva in itself shows that there is a constructive approach by both sides," she said.

Western powers suspect that Iran wants to use its uranium enrichment activities to build a nuclear bomb. Tehran denies the charge, insisting its programme is a peaceful effort to producing nuclear energy.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov on Thursday called for Iran to agree talks to clear up "grey areas" in its contested programme at the Istanbul meeting.

Delegates must agree a talks agenda that is "all-inclusive" and covers "the questions of eliminating grey areas in the Iranian nuclear programme," Lavrov said.

Lavrov criticised Iran for failing to "cooperate as it should with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA)," but also slammed as counterproductive calls to use the threat of force against Tehran.

The head of Iran's atomic programme and acting foreign minister, Ali Akbar Salehi, has voiced his country's opposition to negotiations on the nuclear issue at the meeting.

"We will absolutely not recognise the negotiation if the other side wants to negotiate on the issue of the nuclear dossier," Salehi said in an interview with a state-run Iran newspaper published on Wednesday.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu this week said that international sanctions against Iran would only be effective if they were backed by a "credible" military threat.

"Our Israeli partners ... say publicly that we need not only to increase sanctions pressure on Iran but also really threaten it with use of force against it. I think that this is counterproductive. No problem can be solved by force," Lavrov said.

Lavrov said Iran's invitation to nuclear experts from some IAEA countries to tour its nuclear installations this month "deserved attention," but stressed that this could not replace IAEA inspections.

Diplomatic sources at the International Atomic Energy Agency, the UN nuclear watchdog, said invitations for the visit had gone out to Russia, China, Egypt and Cuba, as well as to Hungary as rotating president of the European Union.

However, the sources said the United States, Britain, France and Germany were not on the list.

Iran's IAEA envoy has reportedly said that representatives from allies Venezuela and Syria would join the Saturday-to-Monday visit.

The European Union said it would not attend.