Washington: The United States on Monday charged China's Huawei Technologies Co, its chief financial officer and two affiliates with bank and wire fraud to violate sanctions against Iran in a case that has escalated tensions with Beijing.

Huawei chief financial officer Meng Wanzhou. Credit:AP

In a 13-count indictment filed in New York, the Justice Department said Huawei misled a global bank and US authorities about its relationship with the subsidiaries, Skycom Tech and Huawei Device USA, in order to conduct business in Iran.

In a separate case, the Justice Department also accused two Huawei subsidiaries of 10 counts of stealing trade secrets, wire fraud and obstructing justice for allegedly stealing robotic technology from carrier T-Mobile US Inc to test smartphones' durability.

Those charges were filed in the western district of Washington state.