United Against Nuclear Iran Applauds Lockheed Martin Decision to Forego Business in Iran

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE 
August 4, 2016
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United Against Nuclear Iran Applauds Lockheed Martin Decision to Forego Business in Iran

New York, NY - United Against Nuclear Iran (UANI) applauded global business leader Lockheed Martin for announcing that it will not pursue business opportunities in Iran.

Following press reports that the company was exploring the possibility of selling commercial helicopters to Iran, UANI CEO Ambassador Mark D. Wallace wrote a letter to Marillyn A. Hewson Chairman, President, and Chief Executive Officer of Lockheed Martin Corporation, urging the company to reconsider its reported engagement with the Iranian market. The letter argued that the legal, political, financial, and reputational risks of doing business in Iran outweighed any theoretical benefits.

The company responded to UANI, clarifying Lockheed Martin’s position that consistent with U.S. Government policy, the company would not be pursuing business opportunities in Iran.

“We are pleased that Lockheed Martin recognizes the serious legal, political, financial, and reputational risks associated with doing business in Iran,” said UANI  CEO Mark Wallace. “The Iranian aerospace industry, in particular, is dominated by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), a terrorist organization whose dangerous actions threaten to destabilize the entire world. Any company doing business with Iran should think twice before supporting the regime’s hegemonic ambitions.”

“The principled decision by Lockheed Martin not to do business with or in Iran sets a global standard, and should speak volumes to other businesses around the world of the risks they face if they ink deals in Tehran,” said UANI Chairman and former U.S. Senator Joseph I. Lieberman. “Lockheed Martin joins a long list of global corporate heavyweights—like HSBC, Royal Bank of Scotland, and Lloyds Banking Group—who refuse to do business with the Iranian regime.”

Led by a group of former leading diplomats and lawmakers, UANI is in the midst of a global education campaign focused on the corporate risks of doing business with Iran, warning hundreds of international companies that are contemplating Iran as a new investment opportunity. As part of its campaign to highlight the dangers of business with the Iranian regime, UANI has identified a matrix of 10 key risk categories businesses and sovereign states face should they pursue deals with Tehran.

For more information, or to speak with UANI leadership, please contact: [email protected]

About UANI
UANI is an independent, not-for-profit, non-partisan, advocacy group founded in 2008 by Ambassador Mark D. Wallace, Ambassador Richard Holbrooke, former CIA Director Jim Woolsey, and Middle East Expert Ambassador Dennis Ross, that seeks to heighten awareness of the danger the Iranian regime poses to the world.

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