FBI Investigating ZTE for Selling Spy Gear to Iran

The FBI has launched an investigation into allegations that a top Chinese maker of phone equipment supplied Iran with U.S.-made hardware and software, including a powerful surveillance system, in violation of federal laws and a trade embargo, according to The Smoking Gun.

Investigators, who began their probe earlier this year, have also found evidence that the company planned to obstruct a Department of Commerce inquiry into the contract behind the sales.

Last March, Reuters reported that the Chinese firm had sold the Telecommunications Company of Iran (TCI) a powerful surveillance system as part of a $130 million contract in 2010 and that the equipment was capable of monitoring landline, mobile and internet communications. Reuters had obtained a 907-page packing list of equipment shipped to Iran, which named hardware and software products from top U.S. firms, including Microsoft, Hewlett-Packard, Oracle, Cisco Systems, Dell, Juniper Networks and Symantec.