EU General Court ruling delists Iranian company with past involvement in nuclear activities
In July 2020, the EU General Court annulled sanctions on Neda Industrial Group, an Iranian electrical utility supplier. The fact that the applicant had provided services at Natanz, a uranium fuel enrichment plant, in 2006 was not sufficient to support listing in 2018, because Neda’s activities were lawful under the JCPOA, according to the Global Sanctions sanctions case law archive.
The annulled sanctions included the unfreezing of funds and economic resources. The specific amount of funds frozen in the case is not publicly disclosed.
Overview of Neda Industrial Group
Neda Industrial Group has undergone three name changes since its founding in Kerman. Its executives appear in the business network of businessman-politician Gholamreza Tajgardoon, an oligarch whose activities are detailed in Tehran Bureau’s Political Business Empires investigation.
The company was founded in Kerman in 1984 under the name Pariz Industries to “manufacture electrical, electronic, mechanical, and computer devices and equipment, provide industrial, research, and educational services in the aforementioned fields, as well as the import, export, and trading of permissible commercial goods, and participation in tenders.” The company’s name was changed to Rizpardazandeh Neda (Neda Microprocessor) in 1986.
In 1992, the Kerman-based company opened a branch in Tehran, and in 1993, the company’s articles of incorporation were amended and the company’s scope of work became “Manufacturing of electronic, computer, and industrial control devices and equipment, providing industrial, research, and educational services in the aforementioned fields, as well as the import, export, and trading of goods related to the company’s mandate, and participation in tenders.”
At some point between 1993 and 2011 the company underwent a third name change and became Neda Industrial Group, according to company registration documents. In 2012 the company underwent its final name change to become Novin Danesh Ayandeh (Neda).
According to its website, Neda initially focused on automation and later expanded its activities to include “electrical utilities for different industries, renovation & retrofit of various plants” and finally “engaged in the supply of a vast range of instruments, F&G & Fire Fighting equipment, industrial analyzers, furnace temperature scanners, and industrial valves.”
Neda’s website also states that it is active in the oil & gas, petrochemical, mineral, and power plant industries.
The founding members of Neda include Mohammad Nakhaeinejad (US-educated) and Farid Dadgar (US-based). Nakhaeinejad is also the founder of Momtazan Kerman which is involved in everything from cement production to pistachio processing. Other individuals among Neda’s executives include Hamid Edjbari, Jalal Kavandi, and Farzad Sarlati.
This network also includes companies like Neday-e Kerman Software, which develops computer software and provides software services in industrial, educational, and research fields, Petro Farayand Tajhiz Neda Engineering and Equipment Co, which is involved in “commercial operations” and “procuring and supplying necessary equipment and parts for industries,” and Khorshid Sharq Renewable Energy, which was a renewable energy company dissolved in 2023.
Another company associated with Neda Group i Neday-e Micron Electronic which was established in November 2001 for the “Design of integrated electronic circuits and the purchase and sale of engineering components and tools.” Jalal Kavandi was one of its founding members (see above) . The company changed its name to Namad Mobadelat Emrooz in 2007. The company’s scope of activities has been amended to include “Export, import, purchase and sale of medical, rehabilitation, and therapeutic equipment…,design and implementation of electronic circuits and communication and electronic connections; telecommunication and electronics laboratories; industrial automation and CNC machines; design and execution of all power and power plant projects and network projects.”