UANI Calls on Ingersoll Rand to End Its Business in Iran

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
March 3, 2010
Contact: Kimmie Lipscomb, [email protected]
Phone: (212) 554-3296
 

UANI Calls on Ingersoll Rand to End Its Business in Iran
 

New York, NY - United Against Nuclear Iran (UANI) today called on Ingersoll Rand to disclose its business dealings in Iran and to sever all business ties in Iran.  

Ingersoll Rand conducts business with Iran through its non-U.S. subsidiaries, and is a leading manufacturer of air compressors, which are widely used in industrial plants, including nuclear reactors and in the oil and gas industry.  Ingersoll Rand certifies the distribution of its products in Iran through Havacaran, an Iranian company.  The National Iranian Drilling Company (NIDC), a subsidiary of the state-owned National Iranian Oil Company (NIOC), states on its website that it uses Ingersoll Rand compression systems and air hoists.  SATCO (Sameh Afzar Tajak Co.) is a private commercial company in Iran.  SATCO identifies Ingersoll Rand as one of seven "Principals" affiliated with SATCO for the sale of industrial tools.  The nature of these operations brings into question whether the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps is using Ingersoll Rand equipment.

Given the extensive use of Ingersoll Rand equipment in Iran, UANI calls on Ingersoll Rand to clarify the use of its equipment in Iran and to answer the following questions:

·    What steps does Ingersoll Rand take within Iran's closed society to ensure that its equipment can, in no way, be used to support Iran's illegal nuclear program?  

·    Given Iran's sponsorship of terrorism, its pursuit of illegal nuclear weapons and its gross human rights violations, why would Ingersoll Rand sell its machinery into Iran, even for benign purposes?  

·    Do Ingersoll Rand's vows of corporate responsibility not apply to sponsors of terrorism?  

·    Does the convenience of an Ingersoll Rand foreign subsidiary making the sales into Iran somehow allow you a clean conscience to accept the profits of such sales?

UANI questions the legality of Ingersoll Rand's failure to fully disclose the extent of its business dealings in Iran.  Such failures deprive investors of the transparency and accountability to which they are entitled.  UANI, therefore, has called on Ingersoll Rand to disclose the full nature and extent of its activities in and the inherent risks of doing business in Iran.  In a letter to Michael W. Lamach, the CEO of Ingersoll Rand, UANI President, Ambassador Mark D. Wallace, wrote:

UANI calls on Ingersoll Rand to cease doing business in Iran.

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We write also to call your attention to a very serious issue involving deficiencies in your company's public filings, specifically, your company's ongoing failure to disclose any of Ingersoll Rand's activities in, and risks of doing business with, Iran.

In the event Ingersoll Rand continues its business operations in Iran and fails to adequately disclose the risks of such business, UANI will pursue appropriate legal action against Ingersoll Rand, will call on the New York Stock Exchange to delist Ingersoll Rand and will assist the many Ingersoll Rand shareholders who oppose Ingersoll Rand's activities in Iran.

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Ingersoll Rand's business in Iran must stop and UANI's activists are prepared to take appropriate and legal steps to ostracize Ingersoll Rand for its irresponsible actions related to its machinery sales in Iran.  

Click here to read the full text of the letter to Ingersoll Rand.

Click here to call on Ingersoll Rand to end its dealings in Iran.