IRISL executive: Carrier will work around U.S. sanctions

The head of an Iranian shipping line sanctioned this month by the U.S. Treasury Department as helping to proliferate weapons trade said this week that the sanctions will only have a minimal impact on the company's business.

Mohammad-Hossein Daajmar, director of Islamic Republic of Iran Shipping Line, told the Financial Times the carrier has conducted no services in the United States, nor had any assets in the country, for the last three decades.

The sanctions prohibit any U.S. company from doing business with IRISL, but Daajmar said most of the line's business comes from Asia, where it expects business to grow in coming years.

Daajmar told the newspaper his company would be flexible?and try different alternatives to avoid the impact of sanctions.

Sanctions can be initially costly because of the need to set up mechanisms (to get around them) but these structures quickly turn into norms and business goes back to normal, Daajmar told the FT. It is a struggle but we are ready to fight and get around sanctions through appropriate measures. 

Source: American Shipper