UANI Calls on Danish Engineering Firm FLSmidth to Clarify Purpose of Reported Participation in Europe-Iran Business Forum

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
October 9, 2014
Contact: Gabriel Pedreira,
[email protected]
Phone: (212) 554-3296
 

 

UANI Calls on Danish Engineering Firm FLSmidth to Clarify Purpose of Reported Participation in Europe-Iran Business Forum

UANI is Calling on all Reported Participants in Inappropriate London-based Iran Business Forum - including Finmeccanica and FLSmidth - to Fully Disclose and Clarify Iran Business Activities

  

New York, NY - Today, United Against Nuclear Iran (UANI) is calling on Danish engineering firm FLSmidth to fully disclose the nature and extent of any Iran business activities in light of its reported participation in the Europe-Iran Forum. UANI is calling on all entities reportedly participating in the forum, including Italian industrial conglomerate and U.S. defense contractor Finmeccanica, as well as French think tank Ifri, to clarify the purpose of their attendance in the forum.

  
The Europe-Iran Forum is scheduled to be held in London on October 15-16. The convening of a forum to discuss potential commercial opportunities for European firms is clearly premature and 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 FLSmidth CEO Thomas Schulz, UANI CEO Ambassador Mark D. Wallace wrote:

  

According to its official website, the purpose of the Europe-Iran Forum is to provide participants with the "unique opportunity to debate and network with over 200 senior business executives from across sectors, as well as policy makers from Iran and Europe, on the opportunities and challenges represented by Iran's valuable and largely untapped marketplace." Furthermore, the website describes the Forum as "a momentous commercial opportunity..."  UANI is alarmed to see that one of those due to speak at the forum, seemingly primed to take advantage of this "momentous commercial opportunity," is FLSmidth Chief Executive Officer, Thomas Schulz. Mr. Schulz is set to appear alongside representatives from several Iranian companies and consulting firms, the German-Iran Chamber of Commerce and MTN, a controversial South African telecoms group widely reported to have provided goods and services that aided the Iranian regime in quashing Iranian democratic opposition.

 

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FLSmidth's reported interest in Iran business activity is especially troubling considering the nature of FLSmidth's business in the engineering sector, and in particular the provision of services to the minerals and cement industry...UANI is also cognizant of FLSmidth's significant U.S. presence- including the 2012 contract to supply Allied Nevada Gold Corporation for its gold and silver mining mill in Reno, Nevada. UANI strongly believes that no company should benefit from access to the world's largest economy and consumer market while at the same time doing business in Iran.

 

Click here to read UANI's October 8 letter to FLSmidth

Click here to read UANI's October 7 statement on Finmeccanica.
Click 
here to view UANI's Geneva Interim Agreement Tracker.  

 

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