ZTE expected to plead guilty on Iran exports

Chinese telecom equipment maker ZTE Corp is nearing an agreement to plead guilty to US criminal charges and pay hundreds of millions of dollars in penalties over allegations it violated American laws that restrict sale of US technology to Iran, the South China Moring Post reports. The company has not yet signed a deal with the US Department of Commerce, the US Department of Justice and the US Department of Treasury, cautioned the person, who declined to speak on the record because the negotiations are not public. Others noted that with a new US administration prompting changes in personnel at government departments, a final deal may be delayed or even scuttled. But ZTE is expected to plead guilty to conspiring to violate the International Emergency Economic Powers Act, among other charges, the source said, and pay penalties in the hundreds of millions.