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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
June 26, 2012
Phone: (212) 554-3296
UANI Calls on the Korean Register of Shipping to Stop Certifying IRISL Vessels and Iranian Oil Tankers
New York, NY - On Tuesday, United Against Nuclear Iran (UANI) called on the Korean Register of Shipping (KRS) to stop certifying Iranian shipping vessels, specifically those of the Islamic Republic of Iran Shipping Lines (IRISL) and National Iranian Tanker Company (NITC).
As the Wall Street Journal reported yesterday, KRS is one of the only classification societies in the world that continues to provide Iranian vessels with safety certificates. The prominent European shipping services Bureau Veritas and Germanischer Lloyd recently stopped certifying Iranian vessels in response to UANI.
In a June 25 letter to Oh Kong-gyun, KRS Chairman & CEO, UANI CEO, Ambassador Mark D. Wallace, explained how KRS's activities help Iran circumvent multilateral sanctions, and violate sanctions imposed by the Republic of Korea:
KRS's irresponsible decision to provide certification services at a time when responsible businesses are leaving Iran undermines the efforts of the international community to isolate the Iranian regime and directly aids IRISL's deceptive and illegal activities.
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As you are no doubt aware, in September 2010, the ROK government joined with the U.S. and the EU to sanction entities like IRISL. Currently, however, KRS is providing classification services to 17 ROD-managed vessels according to KRS's publicly accessible "Register of Ships." (Korean Register of Shipping: Register of Ships, input: "Rahbaran") If blacklisted entities are able to change their names in order to circumvent sanctions then the entire rationale for an effective sanctions regime collapses.
KRS is also the leading provider of certification services to NITC, a subsidiary of the National Iranian Oil Company and an entity with known ties to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps ("IRGC"), the group directly responsible for overseeing Iran's nuclear weapons program and terrorist activities. According to publicly available information KRS provides services to 19 NITC vessels, nearly half of the NITC's 39-vessel fleet. Numerous countries around the world have added NITC to the list of suspect entities with which they will no longer do business.
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."
UANI has requested a response from KRS by July 2, 2012.
Click here to read UANI's full letter to KRS.
Click here to send a message to KRS.
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.
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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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