US blacklists two South African firms for Iran link

Two South African companies have been blacklisted by the US for being allegedly involved in operations worth billions of dollars on behalf of Iran, a media report said Sunday.

The two entities - One Vision Investments 5 (Pty) Ltd. (OVI) and One Class Properties (Pty) Ltd. (OCP) - are linked to a property portfolio worth billions of rands, which includes several landmark developments in Cape Town, Xinhua cited the Weekend Argus as saying.

The two firms were named by the US Treasury as part of a network of 37 companies operating around the globe, but ultimately traced to an Iranian controlling entity named the "Execution of Imam Khomeini's Order", the report said.

The blacklisting means that the companies are forbidden from doing business in or with the US.

The property involved is project-managed by the South African Siltrust Group of companies, but majority-owned by OVI and OCP, as well as a third Iranian-owned entity not listed by the US Treasury, according to the report.

Siltrust's Mustour Abrahams told the newspaper that the relationship between Siltrust and the Iranian investors dated back to the late 2000s, when he was introduced to Iranian national Gholam Hossein Amouhadi in connection with the development of two properties owned by Amouhadi in Langebaan, South Africa.