Azernews.Az

Thursday March 28 2024

UANI: Iran can turn into place where int'l commerce becomes impossible

6 May 2013 11:37 (UTC+04:00)
UANI: Iran can turn into place where int'l commerce becomes impossible

If if Iran doesn't curb its nuclear program, it will soon turn into place where international commerce becomes impossible, said Nathan Carleton, spokesperson for United Against Nuclear Iran (UANI), a nonpartisan advocacy group that pressures international companies to cease dealings with Tehran.

He was commenting on the recent exit of international accounting companies from Iran.

Several days ago, international companies Grant Thornton, RSM, and Crowe Horwath announced that they were ending their business in Iran.

In particular, Grant Thornton, a prominent U.K.-based global accounting network, has taken the responsible action of terminating its relationship with the Iranian firm Rymand & Co.

Global accounting network RSM and the U.S.'s Crowe Horwath have also said that they would end their relationships with their partner Iranian firms, Dayarayan Auditing & Financial Services and Hoshiyar/Behmand & Co.

"We were very proud to work with Grant Thornton on this issue. Grant Thornton made it clear to us that it wants to do the right thing, and its CEO, Ed Nusbaum, personally managed the exit," Carleton said.

Carleton said further that Iran is a risky place to do business, due to sanctions, corruption, and economic mismanagement by the regime.

"It is common that an entity doing business in Iran loses money, or is unable to repatriate its money out of the country," he said. "We are seeing more and more business entities realize that Iran is not a financially good market to be in, and taking their business elsewhere."

He also said that there still are accounting companies working in Iran.

"According to our research, there are some mid-size accounting firms still in Iran, such as Nexia, Moore Stephens, HLB, AGN, IAPA," Carleton said. "We call on these firms to follow the lead of Grant Thornton, RSM, and Crowe Horwath and also leave the country."

"We hope that the Iranian leaders are seeing that continuing to pursue a nuclear program will fully crash their country's economy: there is no turning back, unless they abandon the program," Carleton noted.

The U.S. and its Western allies suspect Iran of developing a nuclear weapon - something that Iran denies. Iran has on numerous occasions stated that it does not seek to develop nuclear weapons, using nuclear energy for medical researches instead.

"Iran will turn into a place where international commerce becomes impossible, and total economic isolation exists," Carleton underscored. "We hope that the world will enact an economic blockade on Iran, and force the regime to truly decide whether a bomb is worth a ruined economy."

UANI is a non-profit advocacy organization in the United States that seeks "to prevent Iran from fulfilling its ambition to become a regional super-power possessing nuclear weapons."

Along with other advocacy campaigns, the organization leads efforts to pressure companies to stop doing business with Iran as a means to halt the Iranian regime's nuclear program and its alleged development of nuclear weapons.

Loading...
Latest See more