UANI Calls on France's NFM to End Business in Iran

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE March 12, 2013 Contact: Nathan Carleton, press@uani.com  Phone: (212) 554-3296 UANI Calls on France's NFM to End Business in Iran Company Provides Tunnel-Boring Machines in Country New York, NY - On Tuesday, United Against Nuclear Iran (UANI) continued its Tunneling & Construction Campaign by calling on French mechanical engineering firm NFM Technologies SA (NFM) to immediately end its business in Iran. NFM provides tunneling equipment in Iran, and partners with the WPS Group, which is affiliated with Iran's blacklisted Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC). While NFM's equipment and expertise are intended for civilian projects in Iran, the potential for misuse is high and serious given that tunneling is an essential element used by Iran to hide and protect its nuclear sites. In a letter sent to NFM CEO Alain Deleard, UANI CEO, Ambassador Mark D. Wallace, wrote: ... NFM currently lists the WPS Group as its representative in Iran. Before being placed "under construction," the WPS website featured an image of a construction site with a welcome sign bearing the logo of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps. As you may know, the IRGC is the driving ideological, internal security and military force behind the Iranian regime. Given that the IRGC serves as the caretaker of Iran's ballistic missile and nuclear weapons programs, and that the WPS Group is linked to the IRGC, UANI must conclude that NFM's tunneling equipment has been used to the benefit of the IRGC and the illicit nuclear program it leads. UANI notes that NFM's tunneling equipment and expertise have ostensibly been used for civilian projects in Iran. For example, four NFM tunnel boring machines have been used in two of Iran's largest civil engineering projects, the Tabriz and Shiraz metro. The Shiraz metro project is highlighted on the NFM website as a reference of its accomplishments. Nevertheless, UANI has a number of serious reservations and concerns with these purported civilian projects. First and foremost is the danger that NFM equipment could be transferred to the IRGC for its own illicit purposes once these projects are completed. As Iran analyst Emanuele Ottolenghi notes, "Once the digging is finished, though, the equipment belongs to the subsidiary businesses of the IRGC (Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps), which can do with them what they wish. Intelligence photographs have regularly indicated that much of Iran's clandestine nuclear program is being built deep underground, in bunkers accessible by means of tunnels." UANI is concerned that a clear distinction between the civilian and military use of NFM equipment is impossible under these circumstances. ...  UANI has proposed model legislation for adoption by the U.S. Congress that would specifically sanction the exportation of equipment and technology to Iran for the development and production of tunnels and related facilities. UANI has requested a response from NFM by March 15, 2013. Click here to read UANI's full letter to NFM. Click here to send a message to NFM. Click here to learn more about UANI's Tunneling & Construction Campaign. Click here to read UANI's model tunneling legislation, the "SPIRIT Act." ###  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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