AFP: The US State Department said Wednesday that it will not conduct an investigation into investments Japanese firm Inpex Corp. previously made in Iran’s energy sector.
WASHINGTON, November 17, 2010 (AFP) – The US State Department said Wednesday that it will not conduct an investigation into investments Japanese firm Inpex Corp. previously made in Iran’s energy sector.
In October, Inpex said it would withdraw from Iran’s Azadegan oil field project, a move that was widely believed to be aimed at keeping it off a list of firms subject to US sanctions.
US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton decided to apply the Special Rule under the Iran Sanctions Act, meaning “the Department of State will not conduct an investigation into Inpex’s past investments in Iran’s energy sector,” the department said in a statement Wednesday.
“This decision is a result of Inpex’s October 15 announcement to complete its withdrawal from the two billion dollar project in Iran’s South Azadegan oil field,” the statement said.
“Inpex has also pledged that the company will not engage in any energy-related activity in Iran in the future that could result in sanctions under the Iran Sanctions Act,” it added.
“As long as the company continues to act in accordance with its assurances, the secretary does not regard Inpex as a company of concern for its past Iran-related activities,” the statement said.
In October, State Department spokesman Philip Crowley said Inpex’s withdrawal from Iran was part of a trend that sent “a powerful and united signal to Iran that it should meet its international obligations and begin to engage seriously on its nuclear program.”
