UANI Calls on Japan to Cease Sovereign Guarantees on Oil, Stop Helping Iran Circumvent Shipping Sanctions

   

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE July 24, 2012 Contact: Nathan Carleton, press@uani.com Phone: (212) 554-3296 UANI Calls on Japan to Cease Sovereign Guarantees on Oil, Stop Helping Iran Circumvent Shipping Sanctions New York, NY - On Tuesday, United Against Nuclear Iran (UANI) called on the government of Japan to stop providing sovereign insurance guarantees to shippers of Iranian oil, which allows the Iranian regime circumvent international sanctions. UANI is specifically calling on Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda to take action on this issue, and for Ichiro Fujisaki, Japan's Ambassador to the U.S., and Tsuneo Nishida, Permanent Representative of Japan to the UN, to impress upon their government the current efforts by the U.S., EU, and others to impose an airtight oil embargo on Iran. This month, Japan's government has begun to provide Japanese shippers with sovereign insurance guarantees, in the wake of EU sanctions that suspended such coverage. Last week, the crude carrier Ryuho Maru, owned by Japanese shipper Iino Kaiun Kaisha, reportedly loaded 1.7 million barrels of Iranian crude on behalf of JX Nippon Oil & Energy Corp. and Idemitsu Kosan Co. Said UANI CEO, Ambassador Mark D. Wallace: While we applaud the Japanese government for reducing its imports of Iranian oil, we call on it to stop providing insurance to shippers of that oil. It is imperative that world powers such as Japan are invested in the effort to isolate the Iranian regime, not providing it with a financial lifeline. Forcing the regime's hand requires a full shipping embargo, free of loopholes. The Iranian regime regularly falsifies shipping declarations, and misuses commercial vessels to advance its nuclear program and send weapons to terrorists. We call on Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda and other Japanese officials to be consistent and responsible. Japan must not only further reduce its imports of Iranian oil, but also end its insuring of vessels that carry it. Last week, Japanese classification society ClassNK announced the closing of its Tehran office in response to UANI. The prominent European shipping services Bureau Veritas and Germanischer Lloyd recently stopped certifying Iranian vessels in response to UANI. UANI has highlighted the shipping industry as an area where the international community can further pressure Iran. In a May 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." 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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