US launches new probe into Indias Adani over Iran trade WSJ
The DOJ is investigating the conglomerate for allegedly buying petrochemical products from the sanctioned country
The US Department of Justice has launched a new investigation into Indian billionaire Gautam Adani, alleging potential violations of US sanctions on Iran, the Wall Street Journal reported on Monday.
The probe focuses on alleged imports of Iranian liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) into India through Adani's Mundra port, located in the western state of Gujarat. An investigation by the WSJ found that tankers traveling between Mundra and the Persian Gulf often exhibited behavior commonly associated with ships attempting to evade sanctions, prompting further scrutiny into Adani's business dealings.
Adani Group said it was not aware of any investigations conducted by the US, calling the report "baseless and mischievous."
"Adani categorically denies any deliberate engagement in sanctions evasion or trade involving Iranian-origin LPG. Further, we are not aware of any investigation by US authorities on this subject," the company said.
In May, US President Donald Trump announced that all purchases of Iranian oil and petrochemical products must cease, warning that any country or individual found to be buying these products would be immediately subject to secondary sanctions.
The new US probe into one of India's largest conglomerates comes amid intense pressure which Adani has faced over the last two years. It began in 2023, when US investment firm Hindenburg Research released a report alleging that the Adani Group was involved in stock market manipulation. Later that year,similar allegationswere raised by the Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project, an international platform known for its work on the Panama Papers and Pandora Papers.
Hindenburg's report led to a $150 billion loss in Adani's market value and sparked a political storm in India, with opposition parties calling for an investigation into Adani's alleged ties to Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Last year, Hindenburgextendedits criticism of the Adani Group to Indian officials, alleging that the head of the country's stock exchange regulator was involved in trading the group's shares, thereby preventing a proper investigation into supposed financial irregularities. Madhabi Puri Buch, chairperson of the Securities and Exchange Board of India, has denied the claims.
In November 2024, US prosecutors indicted Gautam Adani and several top managers of his group for allegedly paying $250 million in bribes to Indian government officials to secure "lucrative" solar power contracts. Adani Group hasdeniedthe allegations, calling them "baseless."
The issue of US pressure on Adani was expected to feature in talks between Modi and Trump when the Indian leader visited Washington in February this year. Modi, however, denied that these discussions took place.
(RT.com)
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Indian Express
34 minutes ago
- Indian Express
BMC extends deadline for waste bioremediation at Deonar for a third time
For the third time, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) has extended its deadline for the Rs 2,368 crore tender to appoint a contractor to carry out bioremediation of 185 lakh tonnes of waste and reclaim 110 hectare of land at the Deonar dumpsite over a period of three years. Bioremediation is a process involving treating garbage with the help of natural elements like air, sunlight, and microorganisms. Over time, as the biodegradable waste decomposes, the remaining non-biodegradable extracts are either recycled or treated artificially. The process of bioremediation is proposed at the Deonar dumpsite, which is among one of the sites that have been selected by the state government for constructing housing tenements for the Dharavi Redevelopment Project (DRP) – a venture steered by the Adani group and Maharashtra government's Slum Rehabilitation Authority (SRA). Earlier on May 14, the civic body had floated a tender inviting bidders to clear the Deonar dumpsite through bioremediation with a deadline of June 3, which was later extended to June 23 and further, revised to July 1. On Saturday, for the third time in a month, the BMC has again extended the deadline for the bidders to July 4. In the revised corrigendum, the civic body has revised the conditions, permitting a price escalation of five percent after 2 years. According to officials, the deadline has been revised owing to extension requested by bidders amid several concerns. For the record, at least 23 bidders had come forward and expressed interest during a pre-bid meeting convened earlier. 'Primarily, there are two major concerns which have been raised by the bidders. Firstly, the concerns pertain to the price as there was no provision for price escalation in the initial tender clause. Furthermore, many interested bidders had requested allocation of more time to collect and submit the documents. Another reason is the unique nature of the work stipulated in the tender, wherein nearly 2 crore metric tonnes of legacy waste has to be cleared over a period of three years,' said a civic official. 'This is our final corrigendum, following which no other extensions will be granted.' According to the civic data, of the 1.85 crore metric tonnes of waste which is currently stacked at the dumpsite, nearly 48 percent comprises construction debris, 41 percent is inert waste while 10 percent is accounted for by dry, miscellaneous waste.
Economic Times
42 minutes ago
- Economic Times
Contribute to stable borders: Chinese President Xi urges residents of Tibetan village bordering Arunachal Pradesh
AP Chinese president Xi Jinping Beijing: Chinese President Xi Jinping on Sunday called on the Tibetan residents of a village situated near the Indian border to contribute towards fostering prosperity and stability in the border areas. "Learning that the village has undergone new changes in recent years and villagers' incomes have increased, I feel happy for you," Xi replied to a letter received from residents of Nyingchi, a prefecture-level area located close to the Arunachal Pradesh border. China claims Arunachal Pradesh as part of South Tibet, which is firmly rejected by India. Xi visited Nyingchi in 2021, becoming the only Chinese president to have visited the border areas of Tibet. Xi, in his letter, voiced hope that Nyingchi residents will, under the guidance of the Communist Party's policies to develop border areas and improve people's lives, do an even better job in protecting the natural beauty of the plateau region, developing the village's tourist brand, and contributing to building a prosperous and stable border area. In recent years, China has built a number of villages along the Tibetan border areas to ensure border security and development. In his letter, Xi also urged the people in the Tibet Autonomous Region to uphold ethnic solidarity and create a happier and better life, the state-run Xinhua news agency reported. During his 2021 visit to Nyingchi, Xi visited the Nyang River Bridge to inspect the ecological preservation in the basin of the Brahmaputra River, which is called Yarlung Zangbo in the Tibetan language. Last year, China approved the construction of the world's largest dam, stated to be the planet's biggest infrastructure project, costing USD 137 billion, on the Brahmaputra river in Tibet, which has raised concerns in the riparian states of India and Bangladesh.
Economic Times
42 minutes ago
- Economic Times
Trump says Iran might get sanctions relief if it can be peaceful
AP US President Donald Trump US President Donald Trump suggested he might back eventual sanctions relief for Iran 'if they can be peaceful,' combining threats and the prospect of diplomacy after US strikes aimed at destroying Iranian nuclear sites.'We have the sanctions on,' Trump said in comments on Fox News's Sunday Morning Futures with Maria Bartiromo. 'And if they do a job, and if they can be peaceful, and if they can show us they're not going to do any more harm, I would take the sanctions off.'Trump said Friday he considered easing sanctions on Iran after a ceasefire but would instead keep them in place, while lashing out at Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei for claiming victory in the war with followed his comments last week hinting at relief when he said he doesn't mind China continuing to buy Iranian oil. White House officials later indicated that didn't mean an easing of US the Fox News interview, which was taped Friday, Trump renewed his argument that Iran was weeks away from getting a nuclear weapon and that US strikes 'obliterated' a key underground site of Iran's nuclear program. He also injected a note of caution, saying that Iran's nuclear ambitions had been set back 'at least for a period of time.'US Republican Senator Lindsey Graham, a foreign-policy hawk who's close to Trump, suggested the US require that Iran recognize Israel's right to exist as a condition for resuming US-Iranian talks which went through several inconclusive rounds this year.'They have to say, for the first time — the Iranian regime — we recognize Israel's right to exist,' Graham said Sunday on ABC's This Week. 'If they can't say that, you're never going to get a deal worth a damn.'The head of the United Nations nuclear monitoring agency disputed the Trump administration's claims about the level of damage to Iran's nuclear program from US strikes, which targeted its uranium enrichment capabilities. 'One cannot claim that everything has disappeared and there is nothing there,' Rafael Mariano Grossi, head of the International Atomic Energy Agency, said on CBS's Face the Nation. 'It is clear that there has been severe damage, but it's not total damage.' Iran has industrial and technological capabilities to resume producing enriched uranium possibly 'in a matter of months,' he said. 'So if they so wish, they will be able to start doing this again.'He cautioned that damage assessment isn't the IAEA's job and the agency's information on the state of Iran's nuclear program is limited.
