Iran's state-owned Petrochemical Commercial Company (PCC) has used British front companies to open bank accounts and conduct transactions at Lloyds and Santander banks, according to a journalistic investigation. Pisco UK is a company owned by British national Abdollah-Siauash Fahimi, but Fahimi is a former director of PCC's UK subsidiary, PCC UK, who agreed to own the company on PCC's behalf. Similarly, Aria Associates is nominally owned by Mohamed Ali Rejal, who is deputy chief executive of PCC UK. Both companies have received payments from Chinese firms, including Black Tulip Trading China, on PCC's behalf. PCC and PCC UK are both sanctioned by the United States, and PCC has held contracts with companies connected to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), including the Turkey-based company ASB.