In Case You Missed It: UANI's POSCO Campaign Covered by Reuters

In Case You Missed It: UANI's POSCO Campaign Covered by Reuters "A Targeted Campaign by UANI ... Has Led to Several Foreign Companies in Sectors Including Shipping to Exit Iran" S.Korean POSCO cuts back on Iran steel business By Jonathan Saul Reuters March 12, 2013 ... In a letter sent to U.S. pressure group United Against Nuclear Iran (UANI) dated Feb. 28 and seen by Reuters, POSCO, a top global steelmaker, said it had scaled down business with Iran. "Certain of POSCO's subsidiaries continue to engage in transactions in Iran," POSCO's chief legal officer Song Se-Bin wrote in the letter. "However, these transactions involve only the civil market. Moreover, these POSCO entities engage in transactions only with Iranian entities that POSCO believes, based on its best due diligence efforts, are not owned or controlled by the Iranian government." ... A targeted campaign by UANI, which includes former U.S. ambassadors as well as former CIA and British intelligence chiefs on its board, has led to several foreign companies in sectors including shipping to exit Iran. UANI, which is funded by private donations and backs tougher sanctions on Tehran, had called on POSCO to cease its Iran trade. UANI chief executive Mark Wallace said it appreciated the company had taken multiple steps to reduce its Iran business. "We continue to call, however, for POSCO to fully end its business in Iran," said Wallace, a former U.S. ambassador to the United Nations. "Given the nature of the business, the only way for POSCO to eliminate its exposure to the Iranian regime and IRGC-controlled entities is to completely pull out of the country," he said, referring to the Revolutionary Guards, which reports directly to Iran's Supreme Leader. ... A UK based executive with a steel and iron trading firm said it had halted trade with Iran partly over payment difficulties due to banking restrictions, but also over image. "I don't think companies want to be seen to be dealing with them purely because of a bad company image, reputation risk. Also, it has become more difficult to trade," the source said. "There are so many places we can trade with other than Iran that I think we can afford to miss that one out for the time being." ... Song said POSCO personnel would "face disciplinary action for non-compliance" if they did not adhere to its trading policies in Iran. "POSCO shares UANI's goal of thwarting Iran's nuclear programme," Song said. ... Click here to read the full article. Click here to read UANI's January 28, 2013 letter to POSCO. ###  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.

Forward email American Coalition Against Nuclear Iran | 45 Rockefeller Plaza | New York | NY | 10111