UANI Calls on Japan's ClassNK to Close Tehran Office, Stop Certifying Iranian Entities

   

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE July 12, 2012 Contact: Nathan Carleton, press@uani.com Phone: (212) 554-3296 UANI Calls on Japan's ClassNK to Close Tehran Office, Stop Certifying Iranian Entities New York, NY - Continuing its Shipping Certification Campaign, United Against Nuclear Iran (UANI) today called on the Japanese classification society Nippon Kaiji Kyokai (ClassNK) to close its Tehran office and stop certifying Iranian entities. ClassNK maintains an office in Tehran and provides certification for two Iranian radio firms that service Iranian shipping companies. The prominent European shipping services Bureau Veritas and Germanischer Lloyd recently stopped certifying Iranian vessels in response to UANI. In a July 12, 2012 letter to ClassNK Chairman and President Noboru Ueda, UANI CEO, Ambassador Mark D. Wallace, wrote: By providing services to these companies, ClassNK is directly facilitating the operations of Iran's shipping sector, an action that enables the Iranian government to circumvent multilateral sanctions that have been imposed to prevent it from further developing its illegal nuclear weapons program. ****             The argument that ClassNK does not directly service Iranian vessels is without merit. The certification services provided by ClassNK to Arya Azhand Darya and Persia Hormoz Shipyard, two radio firms that service Iranian vessels, amounts to the functional equivalent of support for Iran's shipping industry. Of particular concern to UANI is that the Persia Hormoz Shipyard is directly linked to the Iran Shipbuilding and Offshore Industries Complex ("ISOICO"), a subsidiary of the Industrial Development and Renovation Organization of Iran ("IDRO"). IDRO is a regime-controlled entity dedicated to advancing the development of Iran's nuclear and ballistic missile programs. In December 2011, the Japanese government sanctioned SADRA ("Iran Marine Industrial Company"), a sister company of ISOICO, as an entity that "could contribute to Iran's sensitive nuclear proliferation activities and development of nuclear weapons transport systems." Moreover, by maintaining an office in Tehran, ClassNK lends important symbolic support to the regime. UANI is deeply concerned that on May 8, 2012, Yasushi Nakamura, ClassNK executive vice president, stated: "We have [the] full intention to maintain our Iranian office to service other clients worldwide." Surely, there are other locales in the region that could serve as a regional hub. By maintaining an office in Tehran, with the intention to "expand coverage to Iranian carriers," it appears as if ClassNK is attempting to curry favor with the regime at the expense of its competitors, most of which have pulled out completely. 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 reply from ClassNK by July 20, 2012. Click here to read UANI's full letter to ClassNK. Click here to send a message to ClassNK. 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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