An American lobbying group, United Against Nuclear Iran (UANI), announced that it had extracted the pledge from Karsan Otomotiv.
Karsan and Japan’s Nissan Motor Co. are the two finalists in New York City’s Taxi of Tomorrow campaign to choose an exclusive taxi for use in the city over the next decade.
UANI called on New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg to refuse to issue the contract to any firm doing business with Iran. Both Nissan and Karsan have business ties to Iran.
UANI said it opened discussions with Karsan and Karsan “demonstrated that it had withdrawn from Iran and committed to foregoing any business in Iran until such time as Iran fulfills its obligations to the international community related to its illegal nuclear program.”
UANI is now calling on Nissan to cut its business ties with Iran.
The outcome with Karsan shows Iran’s weakness in coping with American pressures on businesses; for most firms, the US market is more important than the Iranian market, so that, when faced with an either-or choice, most will choose the US.