Committee clears MTN in Iranian bribery case

South Africa’s MTN Group has issued a statement saying that it has been cleared of allegations of bribing Iranian officials in order to secure a mobile licence to operate in the country. Turkish company Turkcell had instigated proceedings against MTN following an unsuccessful attempt by a subsidiary of Turkcell to secure Iran’s second GSM licence in 2005. A committee led by retired British judge Lord Hoffmann investigated the accusations for more than a year. ‘There was no conspiracy between MTN and Iranian officials to remove Turkcell from the successful consortium,’ Hoffmann stated. ‘There was no promise on the part of MTN to get the South African government to supply defence equipment to Iran or to support Iran’s nuclear policy at the IAEA [International Atomic Energy Agency],’ the report added. The US Supreme Court is expected to rule on the lawsuit in June.