[humint]

Why in earth are they being allowed to do business in the U.S. in the first place? I know (or at least I heard on TV) that President Reagan promised to un-freezed Iranian assets in the U.S. but I'm surprised we would allow anyone connected with the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran to do business here.

This was a beautiful move by the Bush Administration. This way, any European or Asian corporations doing business with Novin and Mesbah have an irrefutable and undeniable "heads up" that no material should be transferred to Iran through these Iranian companies or their affiliates. The companies within countries that are allies of the United States need to know who is developing the nuclear systems that could reasonably actualize the Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's stated ambition to “wipe [our ally] Israel off of the map”. These un-named companies need to know that their financial future is directly linked to the long term futures of the American people and the survival of all of the people who constitute our allies around the world.

[gondramB]

I didn't think about it that way - it makes more sense as a send a message kind of thing.