Report: Treasury OK'd U.S. Business With Iran

The New York Times is reporting that the U.S. treasury has allowed thousands of U.S. businesses to trade with Iran over the past decade.

The New York Times is reporting that the Treasury Department has granted nearly 10,000 exceptions to American companies over the past decade so that they could get around U.S. sanctions on Iran and other countries the U.S. considers terrorist sponsors.

The newspaper says companies such as Kraft Food and Pepsi, and some of the largest U.S. banks, benefited.

Most licenses were granted under a law allowing trade in humanitarian goods, even if that included products such as cigarettes and chewing gum.

compiled from agency reports