Azerbaijan, Baku, Oct. 4 /Trend S.Isayev/
UANI (United Against Nuclear Iran) organization has sent a letter to China Classification Society (CCS) to stop certifying Iranian vessels, a source in UANI told Trend.
According to the source, UANI currently is focused on "pressuring shipping companies", however there are "more campaigns coming up".
CCS reportedly surveys tankers of the National Iranian Tanker Company (NITC), and has provided certification coverage to the NITC's Darab and Justice vessels.
In its letter to China Classification Society (CCS), UANI expressed their concern about CCS's business activities with Iran.
The letter states that "by providing certification and other maritime services to Iranian vessels owned by sanctioned entities, CCS is directly facilitating the ability of the Iranian regime to circumvent multilateral sanctions that have been imposed to prevent it from further developing its illegal nuclear weapons program".
Iran has been rejecting Western allegations it seeks to develop a capability to assemble atomic arms, says its nuclear program is entirely peaceful and that the reactor will produce isotopes for medical and agricultural use.
UANI says CCS may also run afoul of U.S. law if it maintains its business activity with Iran.
For example, in August 2012, the U.S. signed into law the Iran Threat Reduction and Syria Human Rights Act of 2012 ("ITRA"). This new law specifically targets shipping and related services, says the letter.
Last month, the last big company doing classification work on Iranian ships, key to securing insurance and ports access, said it is stopping the work, spelling further difficulty for Iran's shipping, including its oil exports, Reuters reported.
The Korean Register of Shipping (KR) is the last of the world's top 13 classification societies to halt marine work in Iran following a recent exodus, including Britain's Lloyd's Register, triggered by Western sanctions on Tehran.
In July, KR had sidestepped calls by UANI to halt its verification work saying it was concerned that vessel safety and marine environment protection could be compromised.