The New York Times reported over the weekend that, while the U.S. government has been pushing other countries to impose stronger economic sanctions on Iran, it has provided more than $107.4 billion in payments to companies doing business there.

Apart from America's allies, other subjects that President Barack Obama and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton have tried to influence on Iran include a reluctant China, a skeptical Russia and, most recently, during Mrs. Clinton's just completed Latin American trip, Brazil. President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva precluded her pitch to him on Iran by announcing at the beginning of her visit that he did not favor such sanctions.

Some 60 U.S.-based companies that do business with Iran received U.S. government contracts, grants, loans or loan guarantees between 2000 and 2009. They include Honeywell, the biggest beneficiary; ConocoPhillips; Ingersoll Rand and Dresser-Rand.(In the case of ConocoPhillips, the company said it has no operations, assets or investments in Iran, either directly or indirectly via subsidiaries. It acknowledged having a 20 percent stake in Lukoil, a Russian company doing business in Iran.)Most of the business was with Iran's oil and gas industry, but other areas included automobile manufacturing and distribution, obtaining platinum for the U.S. Mint and even building housing for the U.S. Army. The U.S. Export-Import Bank, a federal body, provided loans and loan guarantees to some companies doing business in Iran.

Some actions are in direct violation of the Iran Sanctions Act, passed in 1996, but generally not enforced. Iran's oil and gas industry is considered to be controlled by the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps, whose role was recently deemed by Mrs. Clinton to be leading toward military rule in Iran.

So what does this glaring contradiction in U.S. policy mean? Those who favor a continuing American commercial role in Iran -- in spite of the U.S. sanctions already in place -- argue that if American companies weren't there, their rivals would be. Iran's top five European trading partners are Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Spain and France. The argument continues that loss of U.S. trade and investment in Iran would cost American jobs.

In the eyes of the world, the $107 billion U.S. government role in these companies' trade and investment turns America's campaign for stronger sanctions against Iran into a piece of hypocrisy. It presents the Obama administration with a difficult choice -- either enforcing the Iran Sanctions Act against many companies or abandoning its sanctions campaign. The Times report, unfortunately, shows Washington speaking out of both sides of its mouth.

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