Norman Lamont, pillar of the British-Iranian business community

Norman Lamont, pillar of the British-Iranian business community

Since leaving his post as Chancellor of the Exchequer in the government of John Major in the mid-1990s, Norman Lamont, now Lord Lamont of Lerwick, has made a name for himself as an adviser and lawyer to the richest business people in the Iranian diaspora in the United Kingdom. They make use of his diplomatic talents and his address book as a former minister to assist them when they run foul of the authorities in the West. He currently assists a whole range of business people in London and the United States but is most active in the service of Balli Group chairman, Vahid Alaghband. It was with Alaghband, once Iran’s leading steel and general goods trader and still very much present in the country, that Lamont began his British-Iranian activities.

His positions as preferred adviser to business people active both in the United Kingdom and Iran has enabled Lamont to develop contacts at the highest level in Tehran. These include: Mohammed Seyed Hossein Adeli, chairman of theGas Exporting Countries Forum (GECF), Mohammad Nahavandian, head of the private office of President Hassan Rohani, and the influential chairman of the Iranian-British Chamber of Commerce (IBCCIM), Ali Naghi Seyed Khamoushi. Above all, however, Lamont has become the Islamic Republic’s main lobbyist among Western governments, seizing every opportunity possible alongside Tony Blair’s former foreign minister, Jack Straw, to support the lifting of economic sanctions.

As a high visibility defender of Iran, he was the obvious choice to take over the vacant chairmanship of the British-Iranian Chamber of Commerce (BICC) in 2004 and thus become a key advocate of the return of British companies to Iran. So as to be able to obtain contracts as soon as sanctions were lifted in mid-January, Lamont and his associates prepared the ground, encouraging the BICC to send company delegations to Iran and supporting the rise to prominence of young lawyer and Iran specialist Nigel Kushner, who is close to Lamont.

The insiders:

Abbas Ali Mansouri Arani | Aga Khan | Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani | Alexios Kitallides | Ali Akbar Velayati | Ali Khamenei | Ali Larijani | Ali Naghi Seyed Khamoushi | Alireza Sagharchi | All-Party Parliamentary Group on Iran | Alum SA Alum Tulcea | American Iranian Council | Amiat'Haye Motalefeh Islami | Amin Investment Bank | Anglo Arab Organization | Antoin Rezko | Arab House | Ardeshir Naghshineh | Ardeshir Nagshineh | Arian Motor | Asia House | Asia Society | Bakir Cola | Balli | Balli Aviation | Balli Development Ltd | Balli Group | Balli Group Plc | Balli Holdings | Balli Investments Ltd | Balli Leisure Services Ltd | Bank | Barack Obama | Ben Fender | Ben Wallace | Bijan Namdar Zanganeh | Bijan Namdar Zangeneh | Blackburn College of Technology | Blue Airways | Blue Sky | Bonyad-e Mostazafan va Janbazan | British Iranian Chamber of Commerce | British-Iranian Chamber of Commerce | Brookings Institution | Caspian Associates Inc | Central Bank of Iran | Centre for Strategic Research | Citigroup | Clinton Foundation | Clyde & Co. | Compagnie Internationale des Participations Bancaires et Financières | Consensus Business Group | Conservative Middle East Council | Cyrus Vance | Daniel Kahneman | David Cameron | Dominique de Villepin | ED&F Man | Elf | Energy 8 Ltd | Ertoil | European Union | Ewen Gordon Cameron | Expediency Discernment Council | Faraj Saghri | Firouz Naderi | Foundation | Foundation of the Oppressed and Disabled | G. S. Management (UK) Ltd | Gas Exporting Countries Forum | Gemayel | General Mediterranean Holding | George Soros | George Washington University | Goldman Sachs | Goran Fizulic | Grant Thornton | Guardians of the Revolution | Hadi Partovi | Hamid Biglari | Hassan Alaghband | Hassan Rohani | Hezb-e Kargozaran-e Sazandegi-e Iran | Homa Lux Airways | Hooshang Amirahmadi | Hossein Hamedani | Ibtisam Mohamed Said Auchi | IHC International Holding Co. GmbH | IMIDRO | Ion Iliescu | Iran Aseman Airlines | Iran Chamber of Commerce, Industries and Mines | Iran Heritage Foundation | Iran Investment Company | Iran Investment Holding Company | Iranian Business School | Iranian-British Chamber of Commerce | Islamic Coalition Party | Islamic Research and Information Centre | Jack Dellal | Jack Straw | Jack Straw, | Jamee Spinning Weaving and Garment | Javad Zarif | Jeremy Corbyn | John Kerry | John Major | Joschka Fischer | JP Morgan | Jupiter Adria Ltd | Kamal Kharazi | Kazem Jalali | Keyvan Rahimian | Labour Party | Land Holdings Capital Ltd | Le Cercle | Lloyds | Lloyds Bank | Lux Air Aviation | Magma DD | Mahan Air | Mahmoud Ahmadinejad | Martin Johnston | McKinsey | Mitsubishi | Mohammad Khatami | Mohammad Nahavandian | Mohammad Reza Nematzadeh | Mohammed Khatami | Mohammed Seyed Hossein Adeli | Mohsen Tayebi | Motahari Spinning & Weaving Company | Mutual Finance | Nadhmi Auchi | NASA | Nasir Abid | Nasseredin Shah | National Iranian American Council | Nick Clegg | Nigel Kushner | Norman Lamont | Nouri al-Maliki | Omid Foundation | OPEC | Open Society Institute | Operation Mercy | PARSA Community Foundation | Pedex Ltd | Pegasus Helicopters Ltd | People’s Mujahedin Organisation of Iran | PSA | Public Affairs Alliance of Iranian Americans | R20 | Ravand Institute for International & Economic Studies | Richard Bacon | Richard Dalton | Robert Tchenguiz | Rockefeller | Rotch Property | Rouzbeh Pirouz | Royal Air Force | Rutgers University | Sadegh Larijani | Samy Gemayel | Sidex International | Stanhope Gate Architecture & Urban Design | Stanhope Gate Architecture Ltd, | Supreme National Security Council | Tahmasb Mazaheri | Tamilla Ghodsi | Targetfollow Plc | Tehran Stock Exchange | TGG Group | Tony Blair | Total | Union Resources | United Nations | United Nations Development Fund | Vahid Alaghband | Vahid Alaghband | Alireza Sagharchi | Ardeshir Naghshineh | Hooshang Amirahmadi | Hamid Biglari | Vincent and Robert Tchenguiz | Ali Naghi Seyed Khamoushi | Mohammed Seyed Hossein Adeli | Mohammad Nahavandian | Jack Straw | Richard Dalton | Richard Bacon | Nadhmi Auchi | Nigel Kushner | Vahid Alaghband. | Victor Kedourie Molaaem | Victor Stanculescu | Vikram Pandit | Vincent | Vin-Rotch Property | W Legal | Whale Rock Legal | World Bank.

Source: Intelligence Online.