UANI Applauds Bureau Veritas for Ending Its Certification of Iranian Vessels and Oil Tankers

   

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE June 6, 2012 Contact: Nathan Carleton, press@uani.com Phone: (212) 554-3296 UANI Applauds Bureau Veritas for Ending Its Certification of Iranian Vessels and Oil Tankers Following UANI Campaign, French Shipping Service Pledges to Cut All Ties to Iran New York, NY - Today, United Against Nuclear Iran (UANI) applauded the French shipping service, Bureau Veritas, for pledging to end its certification of Iranian shipping vessels, specifically those of the Islamic Republic of Iran Shipping Lines ("IRISL") and the National Iranian Tanker Company ("NITC"). UANI contacted Bureau Veritas last week, noting that its certification activities were in violation of EU sanctions. UANI launched its Shipping Certification Campaign in early May. Following subsequent consultations with UANI, Bureau Veritas pledged that it has "decided to disengage completely from all Marine activities related to Iran." Bureau Veritas assured UANI that this pledge specifically includes "all vessels of the IRISL and of its subsidiaries, irrespective of their flags," as well as all NITC vessels. Said UANI CEO, Ambassador Mark D. Wallace: We applaud Bureau Veritas for ending its certification of Iranian vessels. We accept Bureau Veritas's pledge to end all of its marine activities related to Iran, and we thank the company's executives for taking this quick and responsible action. The international community must focus specifically on the shipping industry, to deny the Iranian regime access to global trade and seaborne crude oil exports. Aligned nations should prohibit all international cargo shippers that service Iranian ports from shipping to the U.S., EU and elsewhere. By cutting off Iran's shipping access, the world can further isolate the regime and hamper its nuclear program and support for terrorists. UANI has highlighted the shipping industry as an area where the international community can further pressure Iran. In a March 17 Wall Street Journal Op-Ed, six UANI board members wrote that "the world must deny Iran's access to international shipping, a move that would severely affect the regime given its dependence on global trade and seaborne crude oil exports. Aligned nations should prohibit international cargo shippers that service Iranian ports... from shipping to the U.S., EU and elsewhere." Click here to read UANI's full letter to Bureau Veritas. Click here to read UANI's Wall Street Journal Op-Ed, "Total Sanctions Might Stop Iran." Click here to visit UANI's "Shipping Campaign" page. ###                                                                          United Against Nuclear Iran (UANI) is a program of the American Coalition Against Nuclear Iran, Inc., a tax-exempt organization under Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code. The prospect of a nuclear-armed Iran should concern every American and be unacceptable to the community of nations. Since 1979 the Iranian regime, most recently under President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's leadership, has demonstrated increasingly threatening behavior and rhetoric toward the US and the West. Iran continues to defy the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and the United Nations in their attempts to monitor its nuclear activities. A number of Arab states have warned that Iran's development of nuclear weapons poses a threat to Middle East stability and could provoke a regional nuclear arms race. In short, the prospect of a nuclear armed Iran is a danger to world peace. United Against Nuclear Iran (UANI) is a non-partisan, broad-based coalition that is united in a commitment to prevent Iran from fulfilling its ambition to become a regional super-power possessing nuclear weapons.  UANI is an issue-based coalition in which each coalition member will have its own interests as well as the collective goal of advancing an Iran free of nuclear weapons. The Objectives of United Against a Nuclear Iran Inform the public about the nature of the Iranian regime, including its desire and intent to possess nuclear weapons, as well as Iran's role as a state sponsor of global terrorism, and a major violator of human rights at home and abroad; Heighten awareness nationally and internationally about the danger that a nuclear armed Iran poses to the region and the world; Mobilize public support, utilize media outreach, and persuade our elected leaders to voice a robust and united American opposition to a nuclear Iran; Lay the groundwork for effective US policies in coordination with European and other allies; Persuade the regime in Tehran to desist from its quest for nuclear weapons, while striving not to punish the Iranian people, and; Promote efforts that focus on vigorous national and international, social, economic, political and diplomatic measures. UANI is led by an advisory board of outstanding national figures representing all sectors of our country.

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