Iran finds ways to evade sanctions

WASHINGTON, June 13 (UPI) -- A Paris-based exile group charges the government of Iran is finding ways around economic sanctions imposed by the United States and the United Nations.

The National Council of Resistance of Iran says two firms recently targeted for sanctions have already been given new names and mailing addresses by the Islamic Republic, the Washington Times reports.

The firms, Pars Tarash Co. and the Farayand Technique Co. are involved in the testing, production and storage of centrifuges needed to enrich uranium for the production of a nuclear weapon.

Both were named in a sanctions order Friday by the U/S. Treasury Department, freezing their assets in the United States and prohibiting U.S. firms and citizens from doing business with them.

A spokesman for the department declined to comment directly on the groups' charge but added that officials are aware companies often change their identity in order to avoid penalties.

The National Council of Resistance is the political arm of a secular Iranian umbrella group that broke with leaders of the 1979 Islamic revolution.