A Belgian company is denying the murky suspicions that it planned to sell uranium to Iran that led Ottawa to intervene in its $585-million bid to buy Canadian firm Forsys Metals Corp.
The deal fell apart in 2009 when George Forrest International missed several deadlines for transferring the cash. But only days before, Industry Canada had stepped in to order it be put on hold.
This week, U.S. diplomatic cables obtained by WikiLeaks finally revealed why Ottawa stepped in: U.S. officials feared GFI would sell the uranium it bought from Forsys to Iran. GFI said in a statement e-mailed to The Globe and Mail on Thursday that it has no such business connection.
"GFI affirms that it does not have, and has never had, commercial relations of any kind with Iran," said the statement from GFI spokesman Henry de Harenne.
The U.S. cables reported that the Americans had information that "links GFI to ongoing discussions with senior Iranian officials," and that the talks might have been related to Iran's desire to obtain uranium. The United States, Canada and other countries believe Iran is trying to develop nuclear weapons, and at the time, that it was running out of uranium to fuel its civilian nuclear power plants.
GFI did not say whether it had discussions with senior Iranian officials, but insisted it answered all of Industry Canada's questions and will now try to clear up the issue through the U.S. embassy in Belgium.
It's not clear what impact, if any, Industry Canada's intervention had in scuttling GFI's efforts to obtain financing for the deal. Forsys claimed a $20-million penalty for failing to close the deal, and GFI is suing Forsys for $150-million.