As the United Nations International Atomic Energy Agency considers how to address Iran’s suspected nuclear weapons program, those trying to stop Iran from building a bomb have notched what they boast is a victory.
Caterpillar, the giant American construction equipment company, has announced it will make sure its earth movers and bulldozers no longer end up in Iranian hands.
Questions about whether Caterpillar equipment may have helped build some of the secret tunnels or underground bunkers that hide Iran’s disputed nuclear facilities were raised by the group, United Against Nuclear Iran. Its head, Mark Wallace, is a former American Ambassador at the United Nations, where among other duties, he gained a reputation for diligently chasing down international financial dealings with rogue nations, legal and otherwise.
“It is irresponsible for an American based company to be doing business in Iran and providing the heavy equipment if you will, to support Iran’s natural oil and gas industry and perhaps their nuclear program,” Wallace told Fox News.
Caterpillar says it has no assets in Iran and does not do business there. But United Against Nuclear Iran points out that a Caterpillar owned firm, the Canadian construction company Lovat, has “recently done business” in Iran. In addition, Wallace’s group says, a company called Tunnel Boresh Machine is identified as a distributor of Caterpillar equipment in Iran. Caterpillar acknowledges that it cannot control where its machines end up, saying “Caterpillar’s foreign subsidiaries may, under some circumstances, sell products to independent dealers that resell to users in this country…” meaning, Iran.
Could one of those users ultimately be the Iranian Revolutionary Guards building the huge Iranian nuclear projects?
Did Lovat or Tunnel Boresh help construct the tunnels such as those in Qom, for example, the formerly secret nuclear site made public by the Obama administration last fall?
A spokesman for Lovat referred Fox News back to Caterpillar, and Caterpillar says only one tunnel boring machine was used by Lovat in Iran, in the late 1990’s, before Caterpillar acquired the company. That machine was used for a water, sewer, and drainage project in Tehran. In addition, Caterpillar notes, there is no way to determine if its equipment may have been used in the nuclear program because used construction equipment is so widely available in the Middle East, and sold at large auctions to many buyers.
Tunnel Boresh Machine told Fox News that Caterpillar equipment was not used in the construction of Iran’s nuclear facilities. But that possibility was raised in the most public of ways. United Against Nuclear Iran paid for a billboard near Caterpillar’s Illinois headquarters that plastered a photograph of Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadenijad and a bulldozer, with the question: “Today’s work, Tomorrow’s Nuclear Iran?”
The answer it no, according to Caterpillar.
The company has announced it will no longer permit its machinery to end up in Iran.
While Caterpillar says many of the claims made by Wallace’s group “are simply not supported by the facts,” it has taken steps to make sure its products are not used in Iran.
“The policy of Caterpillar, Inc. and its affiliates has been to comply with applicable U.S. export control and economic sanctions laws and regulations,” the company said in a statement. “But Caterpillar now has gone a step further by prohibiting its non-U.S. subsidiaries from accepting any orders for Caterpillar machines, engines, and new parts where the subsidiary knows that product would be shipped to Iran.”
The construction of the Iranian tunnels has clearly become a target for the Obama administration. Just last month, the Treasury Department slapped sanctions on four Iranian construction companies believed to be linked to the Iranian Revolutionary Guards that “directly support various mining and engineering projects” in Iran.
While there is no indication that Caterpillar equipment was or is used by any of those firms, Wallace hails Caterpillar’s decision to end subsidiaries sales to Iran.
“We applaud Caterpillar’s decision,” said Wallace. “All responsible companies that transact business in Iran through the veil of a foreign subsidiary should take this as a wakeup call.”
Meanwhile, the administration and U.S. allies are moving to try and impose stricter sanctions on the Iranian regime at the United Nations Security Council. But many experts concede that the full extent of the Iranian tunnels dug to protect its nuclear program, remains unknown.