The U.S. government will give Chinese telecom equipment and smartphone maker ZTE Corp a three-month reprieve on tough export restrictions it imposed earlier this month, the Commerce Department said on Tuesday. The department on March 8 imposed export restrictions on ZTE for allegedly breaking U.S. sanctions against Iran. The agency said it would ease the restrictions until June 30th. The restrictions would have banned U.S. companies from exporting to ZTE any technology, software or equipment made in America.

"ZTE has committed to, and fully expects to, fulfill all of the commitments in order to be removed permanently from the Entity List," ZTE said. "This interim relief will enable ZTE to continue serving its major stakeholders as it works with the US authorities to reach a permanent resolution. ZTE is fully committed to complying with the laws and regulations in the jurisdictions in which it operates, and will be continuing to make further contributions to global telecoms industry,"