Dell has admitted it violated United States sanctions against Iran.
The company has filed an IRANNOTICE and explained the violation in its latest Form 10Q.
The violation is not serious because the United States' sanctions are very broad, covering "goods, services, technology, information, or support" that could in any way help the nation to develop its petroleum resources. Forget doing anything that could help Iran go nuclear, too.
[...] Dell's violations occurred outside Iran: the 10Q reports that in the first half of 2016 the company sold "desktop computers, computer stands, and a server, and associated warranty support" to the Iranian embassies in Germany and France. The transactions secured "net revenue of approximately 4,998 Euros and realized net profits of approximately 1,231 Euros from the three sales."
[...] Dell's since dissolved those deals and won't provide further support.
(Score: 3, Informative) by bob_super on Wednesday December 14 2016, @06:18PM
The US can't prevent you from selling to Iran directly.
But the US can deny you access to their markets (especially financial markets) because you are doing business with people they consider unpleasant.
Get a $6k contract with Iran, get locked out of US market ... Most companies just make a simple business choice.
Same applies to UN sanctions on North Korea ... You can trade with them if you don't mind that nobody else will trade with you.
Also, try to not make your trades in dollars, because the US has used "but they used dollars" to go after companies doing unapproved trading which had no US involvement.