NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--United Against Nuclear Iran (UANI) on Wednesday called on crane manufacturers Tadano and UNIC to end their business dealings in Iran, where the Iranian regime has been using their cranes to perform brutal public executions.
UANI released photographic evidence showing that Iranian citizens have been publicly hung from Tadano and UNIC cranes, and wrote to Tadano and UNIC executives calling on them to pull out of Iran.
Tadano, a Japanese construction equipment manufacturer, maintains ties with IER Iran, an Iranian subsidiary, as well as with Part Loader Co., which states that it operates as Tadano's only authorized distributor in Iran. UNIC is a Japanese hydraulic crane manufacturer specializing in truck-mounted cranes and mini crawler cranes with a turnover of $485 million and over 60 overseas sales locations.
As part of its newly launched "Cranes Campaign," UANI is highlighting the Iranian regime's abhorrent public executions by hanging from construction cranes, and the disturbing reality that these cranes are coming from Western and Asian companies.
In a letter to Tadano’s CEO and President, UANI President, Ambassador Mark D. Wallace wrote:
Recently, photos have been published in Iran of Tadano cranes being used to hang Iranians in public executions. While UANI recognizes that Tadano is in no way condoning this behavior, it is important for Tadano to send the strongest message possible to the Iranian government that the misuse of Tadano products is unacceptable.
To this end, UANI is calling on Tadano, to end its business dealings in Iran.
In a corresponding letter to UNIC President Kenji Ichimura, Ambassador Wallace wrote:
Responsible corporations, notably construction companies Caterpillar and Komatsu, have also already pulled out of Iran. These companies made this decision in light of Iran’s continued pursuit of an illicit nuclear weapons program and its continued sponsorship of terrorist groups throughout the region like Hezbollah and Hamas. Iran is also engaged in a brutal campaign of oppression against the democratic aspirations of its own people, as evidenced so profoundly by the use of UNIC cranes to stage public executions.
Despite the clear misuse of these cranes for public executions, the possibility of UNIC’s name being even remotely associated with the despotic regime in Tehran should be reason enough to end UNIC’s business in Iran. This is well in keeping with broader efforts by the United States and Japan to impose increasingly tougher sanctions against the regime in the past year in light of its abysmal human rights record, as well as its continued violations of the provisions of the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty through its pursuit of an illegal nuclear weapons program.
UANI’s Cranes Campaign highlights Iran’s blistering pace of executions in the first months of 2011, with the International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran proclaiming that the regime is on an “execution binge.” Since the New Year, according to Amnesty International, more than 135 executions have taken place. This year, Amnesty reports that the regime has hanged as many as 13 people in public, compared to only 14 in all of 2010.
Responsible corporations, notably construction companies Terex, Caterpillar, and Komatsu have already pulled out of Iran. In addition to Tadano and UNIC, as part of the Cranes Campaign UANI is also calling on Manitowoc, a U.S. cranes company, and foreign equipment manufacturers such as Liebherr (Germany), Cargotec (Finland), Konecranes (Finland), XCMG (China), Kobelco (Japan), Zoomlion (China) and Gottwald (Germany) to account for their business in Iran and the likelihood that their cranes are being used for public executions.
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