Alpha International Trading Company

"Senator Elizabeth Dole, Republican of North Carolina, wrote in 2008 on behalf of this company, which wanted to sell fluff pulp, a product that can be used in products like diapers, to Sarve Caspian Hygienic Paper Industry in Tehran. In a letter to Mrs. Dole, Alpha's vice president complained that he had been advised six weeks earlier that the State Department had approved the license and that it would be issued pending some paperwork completion. 'We have now been advised by the OFAC that there is a hold on the issuance of licenses to do business into Iran from the United States due to "governmental policy matters." We realize that foreign diplomacy and policy making are complicated. We are simply a business making an effort to export a qualified U.S. product to an overseas market.' He added, 'Our potential customers will have to go to other supply options if we cannot supply U.S. product.' The license was issued the following month." (New York Times, "Licenses Granted to U.S. Companies Run the Gamut," 12/24/10) (http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2010/12/24/world/24-sanctions.html)