Two Indian chemical companies along with six Chinese government-run firms and an Austrian company will soon be sanctioned by the Bush administration for allegedly selling missile goods and chemical arms materials to Iran, according to a media report.
The penalties apparently have been under consideration for the last several weeks and have been approved by the Deputy Secretary of State Robert Zoellick and will be formally published in the Federal Register over the next several days, The Washington Times reported on Tuesday citing unnamed administration officials.
The two Indian firms are Sabero Organics Chemical and the Sandhya Organics Chemical.
According to the media report the sanctions announcement will also state that the Bush administration is lifting restrictions on one of the two Indian nuclear scientists who are linked to Iran's nuclear programme.
The sanctions on Chaudhary Surendar will be lifted.
The Government of India has long denied that Surendar was linked to any Iranian nuclear proliferation activities.
Washington had slapped sanctions on Surendar in September 2004 under the Iran Non-Proliferation Act for his role in providing Teheran with weapons of mass destruction and missile goods.
The sanctions against the other Indian scientist Y S R Prasad will continue to stay in the books until the measures expire next September.