Tidewater Middle East Co. ( fa, شرکت تایدواتر خاورمیانه, ''Shirkat-e Taidvater Xavârmiyanh'') is a major

port operator A port operator is a port authority or company that contracts with the port authority to move cargo through a port at a contracted minimum level of productivity. They may be state-owned (particularly for port authorities) or privately run. The wo ...

Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a country located in Western Asia. It is bordered by Iraq and Turkey to the west, by Azerbaijan and Armenia to the northwest, by the Caspian Sea and Turkmeni ...

. In June 2011, the U.S. Department of Treasury sanctioned Tidewater for its alleged ownership by the

Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC; fa, سپاه پاسداران انقلاب اسلامی, Sepāh-e Pāsdārān-e Enghelāb-e Eslāmi, lit=Army of Guardians of the Islamic Revolution also Sepāh or Pasdaran for short) is a branch o ...

(IRGC), which it says has used Tidewater for illicit weapons shipments. In 2016 Mehr Eghtesad bank that is connected to IRGC sold its stake in tidewater to Kosar bank. Finally, in 2018 Kosar bank also sold its share in Tidewater to private sector and the connection of the company with financial firms of Armed forces broke up.

Port operations

Tidewater has operations at seven Iranian ports, including Iran's primary port terminal, Shahid Rajaee Port Complex in

Bandar Abbas Bandar Abbas or Bandar-e ‘Abbās ( fa, , , ), is a port city and capital of Hormozgān Province on the southern coast of Iran, on the Persian Gulf. The city occupies a strategic position on the narrow Strait of Hormuz (just across from Musand ...

, through which some 90 percent of Iran's container traffic passes. Besides this, the company has a 5 decades of experience in shipping and marine projects. Tidewater Middle is active in other fields like logistic and international freight forwarding dredging, salvage, information technology, technical services and engineering, investment and education.

U.S. sanctions

On June 23, 2011, the U.S. Treasury Department announced sanctions against Tidewater as well as

Iran Air The National Airline of Iran ( fa, هواپیمايی ملی ایران, Havâpeymâyi-ye Melli-ye Irân), branded as Iran Air, is the flag carrier of Iran, which is headquartered at Mehrabad Airport in Tehran. As of 2018, it operates schedule ...

, the

flag carrier A flag carrier is a transport company, such as an airline or shipping company, that, being locally registered in a given sovereign state, enjoys preferential rights or privileges accorded by the government for international operations. Hi ...

airline An airline is a company that provides air transport services for traveling passengers and freight. Airlines use aircraft to supply these services and may form partnerships or alliances with other airlines for codeshare agreements, in wh ...

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 Nigeria ( ), , ig, Naìjíríyà, yo, Nàìjíríà, pcm, Naijá , ff, Naajeeriya, kcg, Naijeriya officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a country in West Africa. It is situated between the Sahel to the north and the Gulf o ...

in October 2010. As a result of the sanctions,

Maersk (), also known simply as Maersk (), is a Danish shipping company, active in ocean and inland freight transportation and associated services, such as supply chain management and port operation. Maersk was the largest container shipping line a ...

, the world's largest

container ship A container ship (also called boxship or spelled containership) is a cargo ship that carries all of its load in truck-size intermodal containers, in a technique called containerization. Container ships are a common means of commercial intermoda ...

operator, ceased all business with Tidewater-managed ports in Iran.

Situation after the entrance of private sector

By starting the privatization process in Iran in 2008, Tidewater Middle East was among the major firms that were chosen by the government to sold to private sector but finally Mehr Eghtesad bank took over the company. Mehr Eghtesad bank that was connected to IRGC sold its stake of tidewater to Kosar bank and Finally in 2018 Kosar bank sold its share in Tidewater to private sector. After this event, the operational and financial situation of the company started to improve as the net profit of the company has jump over 150 percent in 2018-2019.Now days the company is trying to prove the disconnection from the armed forces so as to exit from the sanction list of US treasury.
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References

External links

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Situation after the entrance of private sector
{{TSE Companies of Iran Transport companies of Iran Companies listed on the Tehran Stock Exchange Port operating companies Iranian entities subject to the U.S. Department of the Treasury sanctions