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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
August 15, 2012
Contact: Nathan Carleton, press@uani.com
Phone: (212) 554-3296
UANI Calls on Russian Maritime Register of Shipping to Stop Certifying Iranian Vessels
New York, NY - Continuing its Shipping Certification Campaign, United Against Nuclear Iran (UANI) on Wednesday called on Russian Maritime Register of Shipping (RS) to stop certifying Iranian vessels.
The prominent shipping services Bureau Veritas, Germanischer Lloyd, and ClassNK recently stopped certifying Iranian vessels in response to UANI, however RS is increasingly providing certification and other maritime services to Iranian vessels, including those owned by sanctioned Iranian entities.
Over the past year, RS has provided certification services to at least a dozen vessels that are owned, operated, or managed by sanctioned subsidiaries and front companies of the Iranian regime.
In a letter sent this week to Mikhail G. Ayvazov, RS's CEO, UANI CEO, Ambassador Mark D. Wallace, wrote:
By providing these services, RS is directly facilitating the ability of the Iranian government to circumvent multilateral sanctions that have been imposed to prevent it from further developing its illegal nuclear weapons program.
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Over the past year, RS has provided shipping certification services to at least 12 Islamic Republic of Iran Shipping Line ("IRISL") vessels. More disturbing is the evidence indicating that RS is taking over services once provided by the aforementioned firms that recently left Iran. RS should be aware that a number of the ships it certifies or provides other maritime services to are owned, operated and managed by sanctioned IRISL subsidiaries and front companies, including the Andulena Corp., Auris Marine, Hafiz Darya Shipping Co., IranoHind Shipping Co., IRISL Marine Services & Engineering Company, Khazar Sea Shipping Lines, Rahbaran Omid Darya Ship Management Co., and Sapid Shipping Co. Other disturbing examples abound as well, including the certification coverage RS provides for the MT Tour, an IRISL oil tanker which has been central to helping Syria circumvent U.S. and EU sanctions against Syria's oil industry by buying and transporting Syrian crude to its customers. UANI is also troubled by reports that since 2009 RS has maintained a joint venture with Iran's Asia Classification Society and that RS has plans to open a branch in Iran.
The irresponsible decision by RS to continue doing business with Iran, in particular by filling the vacuum left by other companies, undermines efforts of the international community to isolate the Iranian regime and directly aids IRISL's deceptive and illegal activities. It can hardly be lost upon RS that Iran engages in such deception as it is well publicized. For example, according to a Reuters report in February 2012, since sanctions were imposed, IRISL has engaged in 878 changes to its fleet, "including 157 name changes, 94 changes of flag, 122 changes of operator, and 127 changes of registered ownership."
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 RS by August 22.
Click here to read UANI's full letter to RS.
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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