The sale of some 800 HS50 sniper rifles was approved and controlled by the Austrian authorities, including the foreign ministry, before it was completed last August, said Johannes Rauch, an interior ministry spokesman.

The weapons were bought to arm elite shooters in the fight against drug trafficking in Iran, Rauch added.

Austria's defense of the arms sale to Tehran came the day after the United States said that six Chinese companies and two from India as well as Steyr-Mannlicher had been sanctioned for weapons and technology transfers to Iran.

The sanctions, which ban the companies from doing business with the US government and US companies, were based on the Iran Non-Proliferation Act of 2000, which aims to prevent Tehran from developing nuclear weapons.

When making the announcement in Washington Tuesday, a spokesman for the State Department, Adam Ereli, said the United States had "excellent" cooperation from the Austrian government in the case against Steyr-Mannlicher, suggesting that the matter may be resolved soon.

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