 | |
| Formation | 2008 |
|---|---|
| Type | 501(c)3 organization |
| 26-2387657 | |
CEO | Mark Wallace[1] |
Chairman | Jeb Bush[2] |
Founding co-chairs | |
| Website | www |
United Against Nuclear Iran (UANI) is abipartisan, non-profitadvocacy organization based in the United States. Its stated objective is to "prevent Iran from fulfilling its ambition to become a regional super-power possessing nuclear weapons."[3] 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 government'snuclear program and its alleged development ofnuclear weapons.
Mark Wallace, who previously served as U.S. ambassador to theUnited Nations for UN Management and Reform, is founding CEO.[1] GovernorJeb Bush has been chairman since August 2024.[2]
FormerDemocraticUnited States Senator fromConnecticutJoe Lieberman served as the organization's chairman from 2015 until his death in 2024.[4]
AmbassadorsRichard Holbrooke andDennis Ross were original co-founders and co-chairman, alongside former CIA directorJames Woolsey, before being appointed to positions in theObama administration.[5] Ross has since rejoined the advisory board.[6]
Other members of the board, as of September 2024, includeAlireza Akhondi, SenatorMark Kirk,Tamir Pardo,John Bolton,Frances Townsend,Sir. Ivor Roberts,Lord Charles Guthrie,Sir. Graeme Lamb,Olli Heinonen,Ray Takeyh,The Baroness Pauline Neville-Jones,Irwin Cotler,Giulio Terzi di Sant'Agata, Dr.Graham Allison,Walter Russell Mead,Robert Hill,Cresencio S. Arcos, Jr.,Roger Noriega,Otto Reich,Mark Salter,Stanley Kalms, Baron Kalms, andMatthias Küntzel.[6]August Hanning, former president of theFederal Intelligence Service (BND) of Germany, is also on the advisory board.[7]
UANI was founded in 2008 following a chance encounter betweenMark Wallace andRichard Holbrooke on a train.[8] It hoped to replicate theSave Darfur Coalition which brought together a wide cross section of society to raise awareness about Iran's nuclear ambitions.[9] Wallace was founding CEO with Holbrooke, along with CIA DirectorJames Woolsey and AmbassadorsDennis Ross serving as founding co chairs.[9] At the start of theObama administration in 2009, Holbrooke and Ross — along with another advisory board member,Gary Samore — left UANI to take positions at the White House.[8]
In the run-up to the September 2009United Nations General Assembly (UNGA), UANI called onNew York City hotels and venues to refuse to host Iranian PresidentMahmoud Ahmadinejad. In its boycott campaign, UANI succeeded in having theHelmsley Hotel cancel his reservation.[10] Two other New York hotels,Gotham Hall and theDubai-ownedEssex House, followed suit.[11]
In May 2012, UANI formed a transatlantic partnership to prevent a nuclear-armed Iran with theInstitute for Strategic Dialogue, a London-based think tank.[12] In 2013, Gary Samore returned to UANI as its president following service in the Biden administration, and would remain in the role for 2 years.[13]John Bolton served on the UANI's advisory board until 2018 before leaving to join the Trump administration. In 2019 he returned to the organization as a senior advisor.[14]
In June 2013, UANI launched its Maritime Intelligence Network and Rogue Vessel Analysis (MINERVA) system. According tothe New York Times, it uses "publicly available satellite transmissions from ship transponders, including data on speed, identity, direction and destination, and correlated the information with other navigational data and computer algorithms" to track Iranian vessels potentially violating sanctions. The system then creates "vessel behavior profiles that could identify questionable activities even if the transponders were temporarily turned off." According to UANI, "the system had exposed possible sanctions violations that the group had then publicized, forcing the Iranians or their partners to change plans."[15]
Also in 2013, Alireza Miryousefi, a spokesman for Iran's permanent mission to the UN, said the Iranian government considers the activities of UANI "counterproductive and contrary to the policy announced by the new administration in early 2009, which purportedly sought to diplomatically interact with Iran."[15] In 2013, a pair of trusts associated withThomas Kaplan andSheldon andMiriam Adelson's family foundation accounted for more than three-quarters of the group's total revenue of $1.7 million for the 2013 tax year.[16][17][18]
In September 2014, theUnited States Department of Justice intervened in a private lawsuit filed against UANI and requested its dismissal on the ground that the continued litigation of the case would jeopardize US national security. The case was in response to a lawsuit brought by Greek shipping magnate Victor Restis against UANI in July 2013. In response, the United States Government filed a motion asserting its right to intervene in the proceedings and requesting that Restis' complaint be dismissed because "continued litigation would risk disclosure" of sensitive matters pertaining to national security.[19] The government's motion for dismissal was granted byJudgeEdgardo Ramos on March 23, 2015, a rare case ofstate secrets privilege being applied in private civil litigation in which the government was not a party.[20][21][22][23][24] Four prior cases were cited where a US court dismissed lawsuits on state secrets grounds without direct government involvement, but this was the first time neither the government nor a defense contractors were involved.[24][25]
In August 2015, SenatorJoe Lieberman became chairman of UANI, serving until his death in March 2024.[4][2] In September 2016, GovernorJeb Bush, aRepublican, joined the organization's advisory board alongside GovernorBill Richardson, a Democrat who served asAmbassador of the United States to the United Nations under PresidentBill Clinton.[26]
On September 24, 2019, theIslamic Republic stated it would include UANI in its list of terrorist organizations.[27][28] This came following UANI playing a key role in the United States decision to list theIRGC as terrorists and before a UANI summit featuring then-Secretary of StateMike Pompeo.[28][29]
During theCOVID-19 pandemic in Iran, UANI usedname and shame tactics against nine pharmaceutical, biotechnology, and medical-device corporations to "end their Iran business." While the companies were exempt from sanctions for humanitarian reasons, the effort "sought to impose reputational costs on companies that engage in lawful and legitimate trade with Iran, including humanitarian trade" according to Tyler Cullis, a legal fellow at theNational Iranian American Council.[30]
In June 2022, UANI identified the VHF Transceiver Two-Way Radio manufactured byIcom Incorporated as being used byHezbollah, a U.S. designatedForeign Terrorist Organization. It sent a letter to Icom outlining its concerns about the dual-use capability of the radios and regarding Icom’s business ties to Power Group (Icom’s representatives in Lebanon) and Faza Gostrar, which claims to be the “Official ICOM representative in Iran.”[31][32]
In 2022,ATEN International stopped accepting orders from Iran following concerns raised by UANI.[33] In August 2024, UANI announced that former Florida GovernorJeb Bush would succeed Lieberman as the organization's chairman.[2]
UANI runs theIran Business Registry (IBR), "a running database of reputable media and academic reports of international corporations doing business in Iran." UANI encourages citizens to use the IBR to increase product awareness, divest, contact businesses as well as elected officials. It also calls on companies to sign a declaration to certify their company does not do business with Iran.[34] The registry was launched in 2009 and more than 500 companies are listed on UANI's IBR page.[35]
In September 2009,General Electric (GE) signed UANI's "Iran Business Declaration" to not conduct business with Iran. As part of its pledge, GE will donate profits to charitable organizations from the sale of any humanitarian health care products to Iran.[8]
In January 2010, the American chemical companyHuntsman said it would discontinue sales in Iran after coming under pressure from United Against Nuclear Iran. UANI reported that one of Huntsman's subsidiaries was sellingpolyurethanes in Iran, adual-use material which UANI said could be used in the development ofsolid rocket fuel. In a statement, Huntsman said, "The small amount of business done there does not justify the reputational risk currently associated with doing business with entities located in Iran due to growing international concern over the policies of the current regime."[36]
In response to a UANI pressure campaign, the heavy-equipment manufacturerCaterpillar ceased its business in Iran through its non-U.S. subsidiaries. As part of the campaign, UANI erected a roadsidebillboard near the company's headquarters inPeoria, Illinois which pictured a Caterpillar digger alongside a picture of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad with the slogan "Today's work, Tomorrow's Nuclear Iran."
UANI sought to link the activities of Caterpillar's wholly owned Canadian subsidiaryLovat, a manufacturer oftunnel boring machines, to Iran's alleged construction of tunnels to obscure and shield itsnuclear facilities. Additionally, the Iranian company Arya Machinery, which marketed itself on its website as Iran's exclusive dealer of Caterpillar machinery, had been purchasing Caterpillar equipment from a Caterpillar subsidiary in Europe.[37][38][39]
In March 2010, UANI also succeeded in pressuring the U.S. manufacturing corporationIngersoll Rand to stop doing business in Iran. In a letter to United Against Nuclear Iran, Ingersoll Rand CEO Michael Lamach said that effective immediately, the company would order its foreign subsidiaries to cease any dealings with Iran "in light of very real and escalating concerns about the intentions of the current regime in Iran."[40][41] At issue was the use of Ingersoll Randair compressors used in industrial plants run by the state-ownedNational Iranian Oil Company.[42]
In response to the Iranian government's "execution binge" in 2011, UANI launched its "Cranes Campaign" in March 2011 with the goal of pressuring crane manufacturers worldwide to end their business in Iran in order to prevent the use of their equipment inpublic executions.[43] Through its campaign, UANI has succeeded in pressuringTerex (U.S.),[44]Tadano (Japan),Liebherr, UNIC (Japan), andKonecranes (Finland) to end their business in Iran. Tadano and UNIC, both of Japan, ended their Iran sales after UANI presented graphic photographic evidence of their cranes being used in public executions in the country.[45]
In October 2009Ron Klein (D) andJohn Mica (R) of Florida introduced theUnited States House of RepresentativesAccountability for Business Choices in Iran Act (ABC Iran Act) which would preclude companies that conduct business in Iran from receiving U.S. government contracts. The legislation was created to prevent Iranian business partners likeNokia andSiemens from receiving large government contracts as well as foreign banks likeCredit Suisse from receivingfederal bailout money. Representative Klein stated, "We need to send a strong message to corporations that we’re not going to continue to allow them to economically enable the Iranian government to continue to do what they have been doing." Klein credited UANI for assisting with drafting the bill.[46] The act fell at the end of the 2009 Congressional session.[47]
