 |
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
April 24, 2013
Phone: (212) 554-3296
UANI Calls on Germany's Gottwald to End Business in Iran
New York, NY - Today, United Against Nuclear Iran (UANI) called on Germany's Gottwald Port Technology and its parent company Demag Cranes AG to end their business in Iran.
Gottwald is engaged in a range of services in Iran, including the sale of mobile harbour cranes and other cranes used in ports and terminals. Iran's ports and sea-based trade are controlled by the regime and closely connected to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC).
In a letter to Demag CEO Aloysius Rauen, UANI CEO, Ambassador Mark D. Wallace, wrote:
... Gottwald's insistence on allegedly maintaining business activities in Iran via the provision of a range of its services, in particular the sale of mobile harbour - and other cranes used in ports and terminals, raises a number of serious questions. As you may be aware, providing these types of services could pose the risk of them being misused by sanctioned Iranian entities. Recent EU & U.S. sanctions are intended to starve the regime of any means that could be used in support of its nuclear dossier. We would thus invite you to consider whether Gottwald's alleged continued business may be in violation of the spirit of EU sanctions. UANI therefore calls on Gottwald to abandon its business in Iran in order to avoid any reputational damage deriving from its business activities there. ...
According to your website, Gottwald is servicing Iran through its sales office in Abu Dhabi. On its website, Gottwald offers a variety of cranes, including portal harbor, mobile, and floating cranes, connected to ports and the naval industry. Given the importance of sea-based trade to the Iranian economy and in particular Iran's oil trade - a major source of income to the Iranian regime - Gottwald products may be supporting trade in violation of the spirit of EU sanctions. Furthermore, ports and sea-based trade are closely connected to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps ("IRGC"), an elite branch of Iran's military and Gottwald may thus be inadvertently cooperating with an entity sanctioned by the EU and U.S. Given these circumstances, we would like to ask you to clarify what internal precautions Gottwald has undertaken to ensure that its business activities do not inadvertently violate EU sanctions regulations. ...
Gottwald should be aware of U.S. legislation that could directly impact its ability to work with the US government and access the U.S. financial system. Section 301 of the Iran Threat Reduction and Syria Human Rights Act of 2012 ("ITRA") sanctions any person involved in "a transaction to facilitate the manufacture, importation, exportation, or transfer of items needed for the development by Iran of nuclear, chemical, biological, or advanced conventional weapons, including ballistic missiles". We invite Gottwald to consider whether its activity in Iran is compliant with this U.S. legislation. Furthermore, Section 302 of ITRA imposes sanctions against any person that "materially assist[s], sponsor[s], or provide[s] financial, material, or technological support for, or goods or services in support of, Iran's Revolutionary Guard Corps or any of its officials, agents, or affiliates..." Given the Revolutionary Guard's ubiquitous presence in the Iranian economy, it may be likely that Gottwald is doing business with this sanctioned entity. ...
UANI's Germany Campaign highlights the extensive Iran business activities of German businesses, firms and entities. German businesses are bolstering the Iranian economy and expanding Iranian industrial capacity at a time when the international community is working to economically isolate the Iranian regime.
UANI's Cranes Campaign highlights the Iranian regime's record of conducting public executions by crane. Since the campaign was launched in 2011, prominent crane manufacturers Palfinger, Terex, Liebherr, Tadano, Konecranes, and UNIC have ended their business in Iran.
Click here to read UANI's full letter to Gottwald.
Click here to learn more about UANI's Germany Campaign.
Click here to learn more about UANI's Cranes Campaign.
Click here to learn more about UANI's Shipping Campaign.
###
|
|
|
|
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. |
|
|
|
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment