In Case You Missed It: "The Virtual Economic Blockade of Iran is Increasing"

In Case You Missed It: "The Virtual Economic Blockade of Iran is Increasing" UANI Campaigns Reported by Reuters, Financial Times Chinese firms drop Iran as latest U.S. sanctions bite By Jonathan Saul Reuters July 1, 2013 Two top Chinese shipping lines severed ties with Iran as tough new U.S. sanctions over the country's disputed nuclear programme came into effect on Monday, leaving the country increasingly dependent on front companies and overland routes. ... In a June 27 letter seen by Reuters to U.S. pressure group United Against Nuclear Iran (UANI), whose board includes former CIA and British intelligence chiefs, Shanghai-headquartered CSCL said it took "trade sanctions compliance with the utmost seriousness," ceasing all Iran business from July 1. ... Taiwanese lines Evergreen and Yang Ming Marine said they had pulled out, while Singapore's Pacific International Lines has also cut ties along with two top South Korean shipping firms. "The departure of international shipping companies including those from China and Taiwan indicates that the virtual economic blockade of Iran is increasing," said Mark Wallace of UANI, which has targeted companies trading in Iran to end links. "It is a sign that Iran has fewer and fewer friends in the international community that are willing to do business with its regime," said Wallace, a former U.S. ambassador to the UN. ... Click here to read the full article. Click here to read Ambassador Wallace's March 15 Wall Street Journal Op-Ed, "Closing U.S. Ports to Iran-Tainted Shipping." Click here to learn more about UANI's Ports Campaign. Click here to learn more about UANI's Shipping Campaign. Telecoms: Dealings in the danger zone By Lina Saigol & Andrew England Financial Times July 2, 2013 ... Touted as one of South Africa's biggest corporate successes of the post-apartheid era, MTN has over the past year been at the centre of controversies over its operations in Iran that rattled its share price and brought sharper scrutiny of its business in other frontier markets. ... MTN has also been a target of campaigns by United Against Nuclear Iran, a anti-Iran lobby group in the US, which comprises several high-profile figures including James Woolsey, former director of the CIA, and Mark Wallace, former US ambassador to the UN, as well as AccessNow, an advocacy group. "Even more troubling are reports that Iranian security officials are given open access to subscriber details at MTN Irancell's Tehran headquarters which have been used to acquire information on democracy activists," the lobby group wrote in a June 6 letter to Sifiso Dabengwa, MTN's chief executive. MTN denies the allegations. But with 50 per cent of its shares held by foreign investors - 18 per cent of them American - it is alert to the need to protect its international reputation. ... Click here to read the full article. Click here to send a message to MTN. Click here to view MTN at the top of UANI's "Most Wanted" list. ###  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