Website www.tidewater.ir | Founded 1968 | |
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Traded as TSE: TAYD1ISIN: IRO1TAYD0004 | ||
Tidewater Middle East Co. (Persian: شرکت تایدواتر خاورمیانه) is a major port operator in Iran. In June 2011, the U.S. Department of Treasury sanctioned Tidewater for its alleged ownership by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), which it says has used Tidewater for illicit weapons shipments.
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Port operations
Tidewater has operations at seven Iranian ports, including Iran's primary port terminal, Shaheed Rajaee Port Complex in Bandar Abbas, through which some 90 percent of Iran's container traffic passes.
U.S. sanctions
On June 23, 2011, the U.S. Treasury Department announced sanctions against Tidewater as well as Iran Air, the flag carrier airline of Iran. Treasury said it was blacklisting Tidewater for its ownership by the IRGC. The U.S. government additionally claimed that "the Iranian Government has repeatedly used Tidewater-managed ports to export arms or related materiel in violation of United Nations Security Council resolutions." The U.S. lists three documented incidents, most recently a seizure of an IRGC weapons shipments in Nigeria in October 2010.
As a result of the sanctions, Maersk, the world's largest container ship operator, ceased all business with Tidewater-managed ports in Iran.