UANI Calls on U.S., EU to Reject Royal Dutch Shell Scheme to Repatriate Iranian Oil Money Through Grain Deal

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE October 26, 2012 Contact: Nathan Carleton, press@uani.com  Phone: (212) 554-3296      UANI Calls on U.S., EU to Reject Royal Dutch Shell Scheme to Repatriate Iranian Oil Money Through Grain Deal   New York, NY - United Against Nuclear Iran (UANI) CEO, Ambassador Mark D. Wallace, issued the following statement Friday in response to reports that Royal Dutch Shell is seeking to circumvent international sanctions and repay its $1.4 billion oil debt to Iran by having the U.S. agribusiness conglomerate Cargill ship Iran the equivalent amount of grain: The U.S. and EU must not approve Royal Dutch Shell's scheme to repay its oil debt to Iran by way of a grain shipment from Cargill. Although we support humanitarian shipments to Iran, Shell is simply trying to repatriate oil wealth to the regime and circumvent sanctions. Such a transaction is not humanitarian, and is incompatible with the current international sanctions against Iran. Companies around the world must see that Iran is closed for business, not that there are ways to maintain it. The very point of imposing a banking blockade against Iran is to make companies and the regime unable to move their profits in and out of the country. Any company that does business in Iran is exposing itself to serious financial risks and difficulties, given the international community's attempts to isolate the regime and the collapse of the rial. That Iran's illegitimately-earned profits remain stuck in another country is not a problem the U.S. or EU should be responsible for solving.   ###  United Against Nuclear Iran (UANI) is a program of the American Coalition Against Nuclear Iran, Inc., a tax-exempt organization under Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code. The prospect of a nuclear-armed Iran should concern every American and be unacceptable to the community of nations. Since 1979 the Iranian regime, most recently under President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's leadership, has demonstrated increasingly threatening behavior and rhetoric toward the US and the West. Iran continues to defy the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and the United Nations in their attempts to monitor its nuclear activities. A number of Arab states have warned that Iran's development of nuclear weapons poses a threat to Middle East stability and could provoke a regional nuclear arms race. In short, the prospect of a nuclear armed Iran is a danger to world peace. United Against Nuclear Iran (UANI) is a non-partisan, broad-based coalition that is united in a commitment to prevent Iran from fulfilling its ambition to become a regional super-power possessing nuclear weapons.  UANI is an issue-based coalition in which each coalition member will have its own interests as well as the collective goal of advancing an Iran free of nuclear weapons. The Objectives of United Against a Nuclear Iran Inform the public about the nature of the Iranian regime, including its desire and intent to possess nuclear weapons, as well as Iran's role as a state sponsor of global terrorism, and a major violator of human rights at home and abroad; Heighten awareness nationally and internationally about the danger that a nuclear armed Iran poses to the region and the world; Mobilize public support, utilize media outreach, and persuade our elected leaders to voice a robust and united American opposition to a nuclear Iran; Lay the groundwork for effective US policies in coordination with European and other allies; Persuade the regime in Tehran to desist from its quest for nuclear weapons, while striving not to punish the Iranian people, and; Promote efforts that focus on vigorous national and international, social, economic, political and diplomatic measures. UANI is led by an advisory board of outstanding national figures representing all sectors of our country.

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