"Britain said Thursday that it was in talks with other European Union members about possibly easing a provision of their Iran oil embargo, set to begin in less than two months, that could cause harmful and unintended side effects because it bans Europe-based insurers from covering any ships that carry Iranian oil anywhere in the world. Such an easing would most likely be welcomed by Iran as well as non-European buyers of Iranian oil, and it could reduce a potential cause of spiking oil prices. But advocates of aggressive sanctions against Iran argue that it could also subvert the underlying purpose of pressuring Iran, a major exporter of oil. Most of Iran’s estimated 2.2 million barrels of daily oil production goes to Asia… Proponents of the sanctions, reacting to a possible delay in the insurance ban, were angry. ‘Iran’s economy is feeling the impact of international sanctions, and it is now time to not only keep that pressure on, but increase it,’ Mark D. Wallace, the chief executive of United Against Nuclear Iran, a New York-based advocacy group, said in a statement. ‘The regime will not change course due to half measures.’"
UANI in the News
May 11 2012 New York Times |
 |
May 10 2012 Wall Street Journal |
 |
"Standard Chartered PLC has pulled out of Iran after decades of having a presence, the latest bank to exit the lucrative market amid mounting international pressure. The departure of the bank comes as sanctions have forced most western banks to sever or downgrade ties with Iran. Though Standard Chartered had signaled in 2007 it would stop taking any new business in the Islamic Republic after coming under U.S. pressure, it had continued to retain offices in Tehran and on the island of Kish... Kristen Silverberg, the newly appointed president of New York-based pressure group United Against Nuclear Iran, welcomed Standard Chartered's decision to end its business in Iran. 'We call on other banks around the world to follow Standard Chartered by pulling out of Iran, and completely cut off the regime's access to international markets,' said Ms Silverberg, a former U.S. ambassador to the European Union."
May 02 2012 New York Times |
|
"An American advocacy group that has successfully pushed to isolate Iran economically through sanctions and business boycotts opened a new front in that effort on Tuesday, seeking to pressure the International Monetary Fund to withdraw all its holdings in Iran's central bank or to suspend Iranian membership. The advocacy group, United Against Nuclear Iran, also castigated the fund's managing director, Christine Lagarde, over what it called her inappropriate compliments for Iran's central bank, known as Bank Markazi, and its governor, Mahmoud Bahmani, at the meetings of the International Monetary Fund and World Bank in Washington last month. Ms. Lagarde had described the Iranian government's effort to eliminate costly economic subsidies as a constructive step worthy of emulation, and the compliments were widely reported in Iran's state-run media. 'The I.M.F. should not be hosting Iranian delegations in the U.S. and elsewhere, and Ms. Lagarde should stop lavishing praise on Iran and Bank Markazi,' the chief executive of United Against Nuclear Iran, Mark D. Wallace, said in a statement announcing its new effort."
May 01 2012 Agence France-Presse |
"The International Monetary Fund on Tuesday rejected a call by a US anti-Iran group for it to cut its relations with Tehran's central bank in order to adhere to US and European sanctions. The IMF said its account with Bank Markazi is simply related to Iran's membership in the IMF and does not contravene sanctions placed on Tehran to pressure it not to develop nuclear weapons. The advocacy group United Against Nuclear Iran, a group of US ex-diplomats and government officials, said that the IMF needed to shut down its account with Bank Markazi, a specific target of the sanctions, or suspend Iran's membership in the fund. It also criticized the IMF managing director, Christine Lagarde, for meeting with Bank Markazi's chief during the IMF's spring meeting last month in Washington, and for allegedly 'lavishing praise on Iran and Bank Markazi.'"
Apr 30 2012 Bloomberg |
 |
“A New York-based advocacy group that has pressured companies and organizations to halt business with Iran because of its disputed nuclear program is urging the International Monetary Fund to close its account at Iran’s central bank and suspend Iran as a member. Mark Wallace, president of United Against Nuclear Iran, a group whose founders include current and former administration officials, has sent a letter to IMF managing director Christine Lagarde criticizing the IMF’s relationship with Iran, according to a copy provided to Bloomberg. Iran’s central bank, also known as Bank Markazi, has been sanctioned by the U.S. and the European Union. Wallace’s group is attempting to open a new front in efforts to isolate Iran and pressure it to give up its uranium enrichment activities and to cooperate more fully with the International Atomic Energy Agency. The IMF’s chief spokesman, William Murray, said the Fund isn’t violating any laws and is following its normal rules toward member nations. ‘We call on the IMF to suspend Iran from its membership in the IMF, and, if it refuses to comply with its international treaty obligations, then it should expel Iran from membership,’ Wallace, a former U.S. ambassador to the United Nations under President George W. Bush, said in an interview.”
Apr 30 2012 Jerusalem Post |
 |
"Foreign automakers are supporting the regime in Iran by offering state-owned companies access to advanced technologies that are often used for the Islamic Republic’s military and security apparatus, a US-based pressure group has warned. United Against a Nuclear Iran (UANI), which this month ramped up its campaign to get foreign automakers out of Iran, says that Fiat, Isuzu, Kia, Mazda, Mitsubishi, Nissan, Peugeot, Renault, Suzuki, Toyota and Volvo either export to the Islamic Republic or have manufacturing agreements with car companies controlled by the regime. Iran’s domestic auto industry is the regime’s second most lucrative after oil and gas, and has boomed over the past decade-and-a-half, as the Islamic Republic deemed it a priority industry… European and Asian automakers, including Renault and Fiat, have a large presence in the country, mostly through joint ventures with state-owned Iranian companies, who manufacture vehicles under license, usually by assembling imported ready made car parts. However, UANI has accused foreign car manufacturers of aiding the regime by partnering with the Islamic Republic’s auto sector, by providing an enormous source of revenue, including directly to companies controlled by both the Revolutionary Guards and the Iranian Development and Renovation Organization (IDRO), both of which are sanctioned by the US and EU."
Apr 24 2012 Wall Street Journal |
 |
“South African telecommunications company MTN Group Ltd. said in an email to Dow Jones Newswires it is continuing to comply with U.S. sanctions on Iran following new measures announced Monday that target information technology. President Barack Obama signed an executive order Monday that imposed sanctions on companies, individuals or agencies using information or communication technology to facilitate the crushing of dissent, or other human-rights abuses, in Iran and Syria. ‘MTN continues to plan and carry out our operations in compliance with applicable sanctions regulations and law,’ Paul Norman, MTN’s chief of human resources and corporate affairs, said in comments emailed to Dow Jones Newswires… The company has a 49% stake in Iran’s second-largest mobile phone operator and derives 21% of its subscriber base from Iran. MTN has denied allegations made by a powerful U.S. lobby group that its technology has been used by the Iranian government to track users. The group, United Against Nuclear Iran, specifically named the company in its statement on Monday praising Obama’s sanctions announcement. ‘We call on the Obama administration to fully enforce these sanctions, including against the companies that provide and help the regime with this technology,’ said Mark D. Wallace, head of United Against Nuclear Iran, in the statement.”
Apr 18 2012 Huffington Post |
 |
"Porsche has joined Hyundai in its decision to cease selling cars in Iran, after a group called United Against Nuclear Iran (UANI) asked both automakers to stop. A Porsche spokesman confirmed the company is no longer shipping to Iran. 'Consumers here have the power to force these companies out of Iran and tighten the screws on Tehran's regime,' said New York City Public Advocate Bill de Blasio, who had teamed up with UANI to launch Iran Watch List. 'Our message is clear: You can do business with the Iranian regime, or you can do business with the American consumer. But you can't do both.' ... More than $17 million worth of Porsche vehicles were imported into Iran in the first five months of 2011, according to UANI. Eleven other foreign automakers are still selling cars in Iran: Fiat, Isuzu, Kia, Mitsubishi, Mazda, Nissan, Peugeot, Renault, Volvo, Suzuki and Toyota."
Apr 17 2012 New York Times |
|
"Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi said Monday that Iran was prepared to resolve the nuclear dispute with world powers at their next meeting, in Baghdad on May 23, if the West showed some good will by easing the sanctions imposed on Iran. Mr. Salehi, above, also hinted that Iran might be willing to change its uranium enrichment policy, which is at the heart of foreign suspicions that the Iranians are secretly developing the capacity to make nuclear weapons. The first talks in 15 months on the dispute adjourned Saturday with both sides calling them constructive. Mr. Salehi told the Iranian Student News Agency that the talks were 'a turning point in the Iran-West dialogue.' Still, neither the United States nor the European Union has indicated any intention to ease the sanctions, which their proponents call necessary to press Iran to negotiate in good faith. On Monday, United Against Nuclear Iran, a pro-sanctions group based in New York, said that Porsche AG, the German auto company, would end its business in Iran, making it the second carmaker to do so this month."
Apr 16 2012 Fox News |
 |
"Porsche has become the latest international automaker to pull its business out of Iran in an apparent response to an effort by two U.S.-based advocacy groups to step up pressure on the Tehran regime, FoxNews.com has learned. United Against a Nuclear Iran and Iran Watch List launched their campaign in 2010 after they discovered the Iranian auto industry, the 13th-largest in the world, is dominated by members of the Iranian regime and the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps. 'We have to send a message to that regime that no longer can it be business as usual until they renounce their nuclear weapons program and stop sponsoring terrorism around the world,' said former U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Mark Wallace, who heads United Against a Nuclear Iran. Wallace says the auto sector feeds the Iranian regime not only as 'a massive source of revenue,' but also as a means of accessing advanced foreign technologies and products."
- 1 of 17
- ››
Search
Join us on