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 Despite sanctions and trade embargoes, over the past decade the United States government has allowed American companies to do billions of dollars in business with Iran and other countries blacklisted as state sponsors of terrorism.

An obscure Treasury Department office has granted licenses to major U.S. companies to do business with companies in Iran and other nations deemed state sponsors of terrorism, under a federal law that allows certain products to be exported to those countries, Treasury officials said Thursday.

The officials' remarks came after the New York Times Web site reported that the Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control had granted nearly 10,000 licenses to companies to sell goods as varied as popcorn, chewing gum, cigarettes and body-building supplements.

Under federal law, U.S. companies can trade with blacklisted countries if the Treasury approves the transactions as medical or humanitarian necessities, especially in relieving famine.