UANI Finland Campaign Featured in Finnish National Press

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
November 2, 2016
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UANI Finland Campaign Featured in Finnish National Press

Misuse of Cargotec Cranes in Iran Demonstrates Business Risks

United Against Nuclear Iran (UANI)'s warning to a Finnish business delegation accompanying Finnish President Sauli Niinistö on an official visit to Iran on October 25-26 spurred a national debate in Finland about the propriety of doing business with a regime that routinely misuses civilian goods and technology to repress and even execute its citizens.

UANI's October 24 caution to Finnish companies highlighted the case of the Finnish firm and major U.S. defense contractor Cargotec, which has seen its equipment used in public hangings of Iranian citizens, including on June 20, 2013 and November 9, 2015.

Media broadly reported on UANI's disclosure of the misuse of Cargotec equipment, including leading Finnish national newspapers and magazines Turun Sanomat, Aamulehti, Iltalehti, Talouselämä, Ilta-Sanomat, Tekniikka ja Talous, as well as Estonia's Ärileht.

In these reports, Cargotec Chief Communication Officer Leena Lie acknowledged that Iranian authorities had misused Cargotec's cranes for executions, condemning the acts as "horrible" and "reprehensible."  "The Iranian regime's record of misusing Western goods and technology to commit human rights abuses is horrific," said UANI CEO Ambassador Mark D. Wallace.  "UANI will continue its efforts to educate Finnish and other international firms about the grave risks inherent in doing business in Iran."

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]

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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.