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.