LONDON (Reuters) – Cisco Systems Inc. has ended a longstanding sales partnership with ZTE Corp after an internal investigation into allegations that the Chinese telecommunications equipment maker sold Cisco networking gear to Iran.
Cisco’s probe followed stories by Reuters in March and April that documented how Shenzhen, China-based ZTE had sold banned computer equipment from Cisco and other U.S. companies to Iran’s largest telecom firm. ZTE also agreed last year to ship millions of dollars worth of additional U.S. tech products, including Cisco switches, to a unit of the consortium that controls the telecom firm.
The U.S. House of Representatives’ Intelligence Committee said in a draft of a report to be released Monday that ZTE and fellow Chinese telecom equipment maker Huawei Technologies Co. Ltd should be shut out of the U.S. market because potential Chinese state influence on them poses a security threat. Both companies deny the allegation.
