NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--United Against Nuclear Iran (UANI) is calling on the French industrial firm Bernard Controls to fully disclose the nature and extent of any Iran business activities in light of the company’s reported attendance at the annual Oil, Gas, Refining and Petrochemical Exhibition (“Iran Oil Show”) held in Tehran from May 6-9. UANI previously called on all firms in attendance at the Iran Oil Show to make such disclosures, which led French manufacturer Nexans to suspend its business in Iran in response to UANI’s campaign.
Sanctions on Iran’s oil and gas sector remain in place for the duration of the Joint Plan of Action (“JPA”) interim agreement. The presence of European and Asian companies at the oil show directly contravenes the efforts of the international community to maintain economic pressure on the Iranian regime. It also indicates such companies’ apparent indifference to President Obama’s pledge to “come down … like a ton of bricks” on foreign firms expanding their Iran business.
In a letter to Bernard Controls CEO Etienne Bernard, UANI CEO Ambassador Mark D. Wallace wrote:
Iran hosted its 19th annual Iran Oil Show May 6-9, 2014. On its website, Bernard Controls announced it would have a booth at the Iran Oil Show. … Additionally, a video news segment on Iran’s Press TV features an interview conducted at the Oil Show with Tony Stark, Bernard Controls Vice President for the Middle East. In the interview, Mr. Stark states, “This exhibition is of strategic importance for Bernard Controls, especially for the oil and gas industry,” and he adds, “we want to grow” our “base” already in Iran. Such activity by Bernard Controls works in direct contravention to efforts by the international community to isolate the Iranian energy sector in response to the regime’s pursuit of a nuclear weapons capability.
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Furthermore, as you may know, Iran’s energy and engineering sectors are dominated by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (“IRGC”) – the sanctioned caretaker of Iran’s ballistic missile and nuclear weapons programs and the main instrument used in Iran’s domestic repression and global terrorist activities. … As you are surely aware, the U.S. and the EU have sanctioned investment, activity, and the provision of goods and services to Iran’s energy sector. It is therefore unclear how Bernard Controls could continue to conduct business with its listed distributor Aria Tajhiz Apadana (“ATA”) …”
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Furthermore, UANI is cognizant of Bernard Controls’s significant U.S. business presence, including its American subsidiary headquarters in Houston, Texas, and multiple other offices across the U.S. … Certainly, members of the U.S. Congress and the American public at-large will not look kindly on any business that attempts to conduct business with Iran - particularly in its most sanctioned sector - while also enriching itself through U.S. markets and taxpayers’ dollars.
According to Nematollahi Akbar, a spokesman for Iran's Oil Ministry, 600 foreign companies registered for the oil show, representing a 300% increase from the year before.
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to read UANI's full letter to Bernard Controls.
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