Madam, - With reference to your report of February 23rd, "Coca-Cola and Pepsi Irish operations shipping to Iran", I would like to clarify a very important point for you and your readers. The sale of The Coca-Cola Company's concentrate to a local bottler in Iran is done with the approval of a licence granted to our company by the Office of Foreign Assets Control of the United States Department of Treasury, which has jurisdiction over the implementation of US sanctions laws.
The authorisation granted through the licence requires that the concentrate must be intended for ultimate consumption as food in Iran.
There is no question of the company skirting US trade sanctions or shipping company products to Iran by way of a loophole. - Yours, etc,
CHARLES SUTLIVE,
The Coca-Cola Company Corporate Communications,
Atlanta,
Georgia,
USA.