Mark D Wallace News

United Against Nuclear Iran (UANI) has called on Sweden’s Stoc Holding AB to explain and cease its business to and from Iran with the tankship 'Persia'. According to UANI, Stoc Holding controls a vessel, called the "Persia," that appears to operate a dedicated route in support of Iran's petrochemical industry. Stoc Holding openly advertises its ties to sanctioned Iranian entities on the front page of its website. UANI recently launched its Maritime Intelligence Network and Rogue Vessel Analysis (MINERVA) system, to provide real-time tracking and course prediction for Iranian and Iran-related vessels. MINERVA’s unique capabilities allow UANI to monitor such vessels, and take relevant action to halt illegal Iran-sponsored shipping schemes.

UANI urges Obama Administration to discipline MTN following evidence it conspired to bypass U.S. Sanctions against Iran. (MTN Group Limited is a multi-national telecommunications group offering voice and data communications products and services to individuals and land/maritime businesses). UANI ( United Against Nuclear Iran) Ambassador Mark D. Wallace, issued the following statement regarding new evidence that MTN actively conspired to bypass U.S. sanctions and procure U.S. "MTN’s corruption in Iran clearly has no bounds. MTN is willing to, and has done, whatever is necessary to give the Iranian regime what it seeks. MTN is a direct threat to U.S. national security interests and the human rights of the Iranian people. The Obama administration must sanction MTN.

United Against Nuclear Iran (UANI) CEO, Ambassador Mark D. Last week, UANI called on ClassNK, to close its Tehran office and stop certifying Iranian entities. "We applaud ClassNK for pledging to close its Tehran office. Once it follows through on today's announcement to end its work in Iran, ClassNK will have closed yet another avenue for the Iranian regime to circumvent international sanctions. We call on the Korean Register of Shipping and others to follow the lead of ClassNK, Bureau Veritas, Germanischer Lloyd, and others and help impose an international shipping blockade on Iran. UANI has highlighted the shipping industry as an area where the international community can further pressure Iran.

ClassNK maintains an office in Tehran and provides certification for two Iranian radio firms that service Iranian shipping companies. In a July 12, 2012 letter to ClassNK Chairman and President Noboru Ueda, UANI CEO, Ambassador Mark D. By providing services to these companies, ClassNK is directly facilitating the operations of Iran’s shipping sector, an action that enables the Iranian government to circumvent multilateral sanctions that have been imposed to prevent it from further developing its illegal nuclear weapons program. The argument that ClassNK does not directly service Iranian vessels is without merit. The certification services provided by ClassNK to Arya Azhand Darya and Persia Hormoz Shipyard…

United Against Nuclear Iran (UANI) CEO, Ambassador Mark D. UANI is both concerned and certain that KR is placing the short-term profits of those that benefit from its services, specifically the IRGC, before the united will of the international community. It is ironic that KR would describe an effort to enforce international sanctions against Iran as “political,” at the same time it is mischaracterizing its business decisions as public safety measures. KR needs to end the political gamesmanship, and stop helping the Iranian regime bypass international sanctions. Earlier, UANI called on KR to stop certifying Iranian shipping vessels, specifically those of the Islamic Republic of Iran Shipping Lines (IRISL) and National Iranian Tanker Company (NITC).

United Against Nuclear Iran (UANI) calls on the Korean Register of Shipping (KRS) to stop certifying Iranian shipping vessels, specifically those of the Islamic Republic of Iran Shipping Lines (IRISL) and National Iranian Tanker Company (NITC). Reportedly, KRS is the one and only classification societies in the world that continues to provide Iranian vessels with safety certificates. The prominent European shipping services Bureau Veritas and Germanischer Lloyd recently stopped certifying Iranian vessels in response to UANI. In a June 25 letter to Oh Kong-gyun, KRS Chairman & CEO, UANI CEO, Ambassador Mark D. The lettter adds that KRS’s…

United Against Nuclear Iran (UANI) applauded the German shipping service Germanischer Lloyd (GL) for pledging to end its certification of Iranian shipping vessels, specifically those of the Islamic Republic of Iran Shipping Lines (IRISL) and the National Iranian Tanker Company (NITC). Last week, UANI publicly called on GL to do precisely that. In a June 15 letter to UANI, GL informed UANI that: “It is of the utmost importance that we maintain our good reputation. Said UANI CEO, Ambassador Mark D. "We applaud GL for deciding to stop certifying Iranian vessels. We accept GL’s pledge, and we applaud GL for making this swift and responsible decision. The European shipping industry is now set to help deny the Iranian regime critical access to global trade and seaborne crude oil exports.

UANI points out that GL’s Iran business violates EU sanctions banning both transactions with IRISL and the provision of ancillary services, including certification services that facilitate Iran's global oil trade. According to data gathered by UANI, GL currently provides certification to several IRISL vessels, as well as to at least eight vessels of the regime’s primary oil shipper, NITC. In a June 12 letter to GL Chairman of the Executive Board Erik van der Noordaa, UANI CEO, Ambassador Mark D. Wallace, explained how GL’s activities are in clear violation of EU sanctions imposed against IRISL and Iran's oil trade, and also could run afoul of U.S. law, given GL’s extensive contract work with the U.S.