Iranians protest after Daewoo deal sours

Around 1,000 workers from Iran's Entekhab group staged a demonstration at the South Korean embassy in Tehran on Sunday after an acquisition deal with Daewoo Electronics went sour due to sanctions. The demonstration by workers from the private Iranian company was aimed at retrieving a downpayment of $70 million (53 million euros) Entekhab had paid in 2011 to Daewoo, company spokesman Hamid Ghaznavi told reporters. In November 2010, Entekhab Industrial Group signed a contract sealing its acquisition of South Korea's Daewoo Electronics for $518 million (397 million euros), officials said at the time. Daewoo Electronics, a former subsidiary of the now-defunct Daewoo Group, has been under a debt rescheduling programme since 1999 when its parent company collapsed. Entekhab's deal for the acquisition of the Daewoo Electronics came unstuck in September 2010 when Seoul, reportedly under pressure from Washington, slapped sanctions on the Islamic republic over its controversial nuclear programme. "When they told us that the deal will not go through due to the sanctions, we asked for a refund of our downpayment," Ghaznavi said. "But since 2011 they have been stalling and telling us that because of banking sanctions they are unable to pays us." Ghaznavi said that a South Korean embassy official had told him on Sunday that he would relay their demands to the authorities in Seoul. "We will come back again if our demand is not met, since the company's 4,000 workers are affected by the cancellation of this deal," he warned. Entekhab is located in the central province of Isfahan and produces appliances such as refrigerators, washing machines and televisions under the brand names Snowa and Haier. As part of its unilateral punitive measures, South Korea has suspended the operations of Iran's Bank Mellat. The United Nations, the European Union, the United States, and several other countries have imposed sanctions against Iran for its refusal to halt its uranium enrichment programme, which world powers suspect is masking an atomic weapons drive despite repeated denials by Tehran.