Japanese manufacturer Tadano has stopped selling cranes into Iran after evidence emerged of the machines being used in public executions.
The company made the decision after a report, released in May by pressure group UANI (United Against Nuclear Iran), condemned Tadano and Furukawa UNIC for providing mobile cranes to Iran. The report included graphic evidence of the cranes being used to hang Iranian citizens.
UANI is currently conducting its Cranes Campaign, a campaign to stop manufacturers and local subsidaries from supplying Iran’s alleged nuclear weapons programme. While the use of distributing pictures of the cranes being used in public executions has proven to be controversial – and in the case of accusations made against Terex in March, inaccurate – it has grabbed headlines in the US and has led several companies to re-state and clarify their policies towards the country.
Mark Wallace, the president of UANI welcomed Tadano’s move. He said that Tadano officials informed UANI that it was ending all of its business in Iran, including cutting ties with its distributor IER Iran and the Iranian company Part Loader Co.
“Tadano is a responsible corporation and its decision is another example of an international company taking the right action in the wake of UANI’s Cranes Campaign,” he said. “UANI hopes that even more crane companies will end their business in Iran as the bright light of world attention is cast on Iran’s barbaric execution binge.”
While Iran is a heavily sanctioned country, Japan is reliant on the country for oil imports and manufacturers have been able to conduct business there as long as they are not supplying its nuclear programme.
According to Iran’s Japanese ambassador to Japan, Iran’s trade value with Japan amounted to $12 billion in 2010 despite the sanctions. He told the official IRNA news agency that he expects this figure to grow.
“We are expecting trade value in the current year to reach $14-15 billion,” Abbas Araghchi said. “The figure is expected to reach $17 billion (in the future).”
