UANI Applauds BP for Declining to Participate in the British Business Delegation to Iran

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August 25, 2015
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UANI Applauds BP for Declining to Participate in the British Business Delegation to Iran  
Calls on trade delegation participants to forgo further Iran business

New York, NY - United Against Nuclear Iran (UANI) today applauded the British oil and gas company BP for declining to participate in a British business delegation to Iran this past weekend. The company stated, "Sanctions are still in place and we will not do anything while that is the case."

On Sunday, British Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond reopened the UK Embassy in Tehran nearly four years after it was stormed and ransacked by a mob with the alleged support of the Iranian government. The business delegation accompanying Hammond included Royal Dutch Shell, Amec Foster Wheeler, the Weir Group, Benoy, the Institute of Directors, and the British Bankers' Association.

In a meeting with the governor of the Central Bank of Iran, Hammond reportedly stated, "There is a huge appetite both on the part of our commercial and industrial businesses to engage with the opportunity of Iran opening up and there is huge appetite on the part of our financial institutions to support that activity."

In response to these developments, UANI CEO Ambassador Mark D. Wallace issued the following statement:

We applaud BP for responsibly declining to participate in this premature British trade delegation to Iran. As BP stated, sanctions are still in place and companies should not engage in business in Iran. Companies should consider the ongoing reputational and financial risks of doing business in Iran, and how it may impact their business in the world's largest economy and consumer market--the United States. We call on those participants of the UK trade delegation, particularly Shell, to decline business in Iran - the world's leading state sponsor of terrorism and notorious violator of human rights.

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