Any business entering into a contractual relationship with an employee, supplier or another business must consider many different risks. Parties frequently find it difficult to perform their obligations because of a variety of reasons. Not abiding by the contract can create the threat of litigation.
A New Jersey company of nuclear scientists has entered into a contract with a chain of Iranian colleges. The company claims the contractual partnership may be able to create clean and cheap energy, presumably through nuclear fusion.
Parties to a contract can face a myriad of problems with each other. But this agreement could face a challenge not from either party, but from the U.S. government. Sometimes situations arise in which those involved in the contract want to move forward with their agreed obligations but simply cannot.
For the New Jersey company entering into a contract about such a precarious subject matter raises the risk of government interference. The business acknowledges that the U.S. has numerous sanctions regarding Iran, but believes its agreement falls into an exception. Because the two groups will work on scientific publications together, the New Jersey-based party believes it is exempt from sanctions.
The company may have decided that any risks of government interference were outweighed by the benefits of the contract. Other U.S. companies are also trying to create similar nuclear fusion, so the contractual deal was perhaps necessary to gain a competitive advantage.
When a company or corporation is under a threat of litigation, a business litigation attorney with experience handling these specific international cases may be consulted.
Source: Business Insider, " An American Company Is Helping Iran Achieve The Most Advanced Nuclear Power Imaginable," Eloise Lee and Robert Johnson, May 30, 2012