IRAN
 
Total Takes Iran Hit
 
France’s Total has agreed to pay $398mn in fines and penalties to the US government to settle charges related to “illicit payments” to “an Iranian government official” via intermediaries to win contracts to develop offshore Iranian oil and gas fields. US District Court papers suggest the French major paid $60mn in bribes over 10 years to 2004 facilitating its re-entry into the Iranian upstream. The bribes are...