Aker Solutions ASA

Once the digging is finished, though, the equipment belongs to the subsidiary businesses of the IRGC, which can do with them what they wish. Intelligence photographs have regularly indicated that much of Iran’s clandestine nuclear program is being built deep underground, in bunkers accessible by means of tunnels. The machinery and technology for constructing such tunnels can only have been provided by Wirth and Seli.” ("The Iranian Shell Game,"  July-August 2008) (http://www.commentarymagazine.com/viewpdf.cfm?article_id=11460)

“Be it…a water-supply system in Iran – as an employee of Aker Wirth, you will be there as progressive technology is created and put to use in the field. And the fields of activity open to you at Aker Wirth are as diverse as our technologies and work sites.” ( Aker-Wirth website ) (http://www.wirth-erkelenz.de/index.php?id=144&L=0)

<!--td {border: 1px solid #ccc;}br {mso-data-placement:same-cell;}--> Aker ASA is listed in the March 1, 2019, Report to the New Jersey Legislature Iran Divestment Act.  (https://www.nj.gov/treasury/doinvest/pdf/index/Iran_Progress_Report.pdf)

“German producer of tunnel boring machinery – proudly boasts on its website that ‘… a new water supply system is created in the Iranian mountains of Isfahan, Wirth machines are used.’ Indeed they are. The problem is that one of Wirth’s project clients in Iran is Sahel Consulting Engineers – a company owned by the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC). Wirth has so far declined to comment on the matter.” (BESA Center for Strategic Studies, “ Iran's Deceptive Commercial Practices ,” 4/15/08) (http://www.biu.ac.il/Besa/perspectives41.html)

Aker Solutions had previously been removed from the CalSTRS Iran-related securities list. However, in 2016, CalSTRS reinitiated the review process for reportedly having a subsidiary with business agreements in Iran which may include the transfer of petroleum research technology to Iran. In 2017, CalSTRS designated Aker Solutions as “Being Monitored” and maintained that designation in 2018. (https://www.calstrs.com/sites/main/files/file-attachments/calstrs_investment_reports_2018.pdf)

In 2017, the U.S. states of California and Florida, listed Aker Solutions on their state lists of Companies Doing Business with the Iranian Petroleum/Natural Gas, Nuclear and Military Sectors, rendering Aker Solutions ineligible for investment and/or state contracting. (https://www.calpers.ca.gov/docs/forms-publications/iran-sudan-divestment-2017.pdf) (https://www.sbafla.com/fsb/Portals/FSB/Content/GlobalGovernanceMandates/QuarterlyReports/2017/Global_Governance_Mandates_and_Florida%20Statutes_2017_12_13.pdf?ver=2017-12-13-145507-737)

"Aker has exported products produced in Asia to the oil and gas sector in Iran, and a German subsidiary - Wirth - has exported drilling equipment to Iran. A spokesman, Jannick Lindbaek, said the company has no current business in Iran due to commercial and contractual reasons, but stressed that the company doesn't feel precluded from selling products again to Iran's oil and gas sector: "We don't have a bilateral boycott of Iran. We're following all Norwegian foreign policy," he said. The company has received $6.3 million in revenue and benefits from the US government.  Their activities in Iran are currently active.  (The New York Times, "Profiting from Iran, and the US", 3/6/2010) (http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2010/03/06/world/iran-sanctions.html)

“The project management contract for South Pars phases 9 and 10 offshore Iran, was awarded Aker Kvaerner from Pars Oil and Gas Company in April. This contract, worth approximately USD 25 million, represents a breakthrough in Iran, which holds the world’s second largest oil and gas reserves.” (Aker Kvaerner O&G Group AS,  Board of Directors Memo , January-June 2005) (http://docs.google.com/viewer?a=v&q=cache:uMrWXyIK7TsJ:www.akersolutions.com/NR/rdonlyres/2D45B830-1422-4647-9123-E6980FB5F270/12424/2Q05AKOilandGasGroup.pdf+Aker+Pars+Oil+and+Gas+Company&hl=en&gl=us&sig=AHIEtbRo5nzHy46zpYKVeL2CEtLlFJgfzg)

Aker Solutions is listed on the March 1, 2020 and March 1, 2021 Report to the New Jersey Legislature Iran Divestment as a prohibited company.  (https://web.archive.org/web/20201016170109/https://www.nj.gov/treasury/doinvest/pdf/index/Iran_Progress_Report.pdf) (https://www.nj.gov/treasury/doinvest/pdf/index/Iran_Progress_Report.pdf)

“Aker Kvaerner will assist the national operator Pars Oil and Gas Company (POGC) in managing the USD 1.8 billion total contract (EPC) for the development project comprising phases 9 and 10 of the South Pars gas field located offshore Iran in the Persian Gulf. Aker Kvaerner has partnered up with the Teheran based, private engineering company Hirbodan for the contract

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“Two European concerns—Wirth, from Germany, and Seli, from Italy—sold tunnel-boring equipment to Iran for its Ghomroud water project. Wirth’s contract was concluded after Germany’s export-control agency, BAFA, determined that the machines involved in this project, being intended only for civilian use, were not subject to embargo.

“Wirth and Seli – German and Italian companies producing sophisticated tunnel-boring machinery – have supplied their machines and technical assistance to IRGC companies, for instance. Their business was not subject to any restrictions or embargoes, yet intelligence reports have repeatedly suggested that much of Iran’s clandestine nuclear program is being built deep underground, in bunkers that are accessible through tunnels – tunnels which only such technology could build.” (Transatlantic Institute,  "Iran's Deceptive Ways,"  May 2008)  (http://www.europarl.europa.eu/meetdocs/2009_2014/documents/d-il/dv/d-il20091202deceptive_/d-il20091202deceptive_en.pdf)

Aker Kvaerner has a history as a product and technology supplier in Iran, providing processing equipment, drilling equipment and wellheads. The new project management contract represents the first field development engagement for Aker Kvaerner in Iran. ‘This is a good project for Aker Kvaerner. Our track record on executing large projects and the teaming up with a competitive Iranian partner were important winning factors for the contract’, says Aker Kvaerner's Executive Vice President Mr. Simen Lieungh.” (EuroInvestor.com, “ Breakthrough Contract in Iran: South Pars phases 9 & 10 ,” 4/27/05) (http://www.euroinvestor.co.uk/news/story.aspx?id=8890618)

"Aker Solutions reportedly has a subsidiary with business agreements in Iran, which may include the transfer of petroleum research technology to Iran. Aker Solutions had previously been removed from the CalSTRS Iran-related securities list. However, in 2016, CalSTRS reinitiated the review process due to potentially new involvement. In 2017, CalSTRS designated Aker Solutions as “Being Monitored” and maintained that status in 2019. In 2020, CalSTRS removed Aker Solutions after further review of the company’s internal controls to prevent sanction violations." (https://www.calstrs.com/sites/main/files/file-attachments/calstrs-investment-reports-2020.pdf?1609284307)

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Norway’s Aker Solutions signed a MoU to modernize the Iranian oil industry in 2016. (https://in.reuters.com/article/iran-nuclear-economy-deals/factbox-irans-deals-with-foreign-firms-since-easing-of-sanctions-idINKBN1CK0CX)

In December 2019 CalPERs removed Aker Solutions from its Iran Divestment List after receiving confirmation that the company has no targeted business activities in Iran, and reviewing the companies' internal controls to prevent sanctions violations. (https://www.calpers.ca.gov/docs/board-agendas/201912/invest/item06g-01_a.pdf)

Overseeing the tunnel project, however, was Sahel Consulting Engineers, a company owned by the IRGC. Nor is this connection a secret. The website of Wirth’s subsidiary in Iran features images of the Ghomroud construction site. The sign welcoming visitors to the project bears the logo of the IRGC, and the same logo is visible above the tunnel entrance…