CRC Letter Writing Campaign to Stop Honeywell in Iran

Honeywell’s British subsidiary, UOP, is doing business with Iran enabling them to triple their daily gasoline production. Iran’s oil industry is run by the Iranian Revolutionary Guard, which provides significant funding for Iran’s illicit nuclear and missile programs.

As of July 1, 2010, President Obama signed into law the Comprehensive Iran Sanctions, Accountability, and Divestment Act of 2010 (the “Iran SAD Act”). The new law is focused on Iran’s gasoline suppliers and those businesses that assist Iran in developing petroleum refineries such as Honeywell. Under the new SAD Act we believe Honeywell is illegal.

Sign or edit the letter below and send it to David M. Cote, Chairman & CEO Honeywell International Inc. You can also call Rob Ferris, Vice President of External Corporate Communications, at 973-455-3388 and voice your concern.

Thank you for standing up against Honeywell Corporation’s business dealings with Iran.

Subject:

Your Letter:

I am writing about Honeywell's decision to do business with Iran. I am concerned that this decision is destructive and endangers US interests in the region, the US homeland, and the global community.

A New York Times article published on March 6, 2010 states that Universal Oil Products (UOP), a wholly-owned British subsidiary of Honeywell, conducts business in Iran as "part of a consortium with... several Iranian firms that is expanding and upgrading the Arak Refinery in Iran."  Notably, "[t]he project, budgeted to cost $3.7 billion, could nearly triple gasoline production from 34,000 to 100,000 barrels per day." (Jo Becker and Ron Nixon, "U.S. Enriches Companies Defying Its Policy on Iran," New York Times, March 6, 2010).  In addition, the National Iranian Oil Refining & Distribution Company lists Honeywell UOP as a contractor on Iran's Bandar Abbas Persian Gulf Refinery project and the Shiraz Pars Refinery Project. HYPERLINK http://tinyurl.com/2a2wdcr

As you know, on July 1, 2010, President Obama signed into law new Iran sanctions legislation, the Comprehensive Iran Sanctions, Accountability, and Divestment Act of 2010 (the “Iran SAD Act”).  The new law is focused on Iran’s gasoline suppliers and those businesses that assist Iran in developing petroleum refineries.  Honeywell’s business in Iran is directly covered by the Iran SAD Act.  Honeywell’s business in Iran is illegal under the terms of the Iran SAD Act.  Your continued violation of the Iran SAD Act will result in the loss of billions of dollars in U.S. business and therefore will have a material adverse effect on Honeywell’s financial condition, business and results of operations, not to mention its reputation as a law abiding company.

Honeywell's business in Iran is also intertwined deeply with the activities of Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC). The IRGC backs terrorist groups in Iraq and Afghanistan (See http://www.fas.org/sgp/crs/weapons/RS22330.pdf) and the U.S. has designated the IRGC a proliferator of weapons of mass destruction for what it sees as its role in Iran's nuclear and ballistic missile programs (cite).   Under the Iran SAD Act sanctions may be imposed on any entity that conducts business with a representative or affiliate of Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC).  The IRGC is the dominant ideological entity in Iran today, overseeing its nuclear and missile programs, as well as playing a prominent role, if not the leader, in Iran’s major gas and oil projects.  Honeywell’s work in association with the IRGC is in clear violation of the Iran SAD Act.  This violation of the Iran SAD Act will have a material adverse effect on Honeywell.

Finally, the Iran SAD Act requires companies that do business with the U.S. Government to certify that they do not engage in business in Iran that is subject to sanctions. As Honeywell is the largest recipient of U.S. federal funds for a company that continues to operate in Iran it cannot make such a certification.  In the past decade alone, Honeywell has received $12.9 billion in federal contracts (Jo Becker and Ron Nixon, "Profiting from Iran, and the U.S.," New York Times, March 12, 2010). If Honeywell continues its business in Iran it will be precluded from contracting with the U.S. Government.  The Iran SAD Act requires Honeywell to choose between doing business with Iran and with the U.S.  That choice should be clear.

We strongly object to U.S. taxpayer dollars to go to a company that is enabling Iran to build nuclear weapons.  Companies such as Honeywell that rely on U.S.taxpayer dollars have a responsibility to conduct themselves in a manner that is consistent with U.S. national security and US law. By doing business in Iran, Honeywell has failed in that responsibility. Especially given Iran's sponsorship of terrorism, its footprint in the death of US Soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan, its pursuit of an illicit nuclear weapon, its gross human rights violation and its denial of the tragic attacks of September 11, 2001, why would Honeywell sell its equipment into Iran even for benign purposes?  The answer should be clear.

Simply put, Honeywell's business in Iran must stop.

Sincerely,

David M. Cote

Honeywell International Inc.
101 Columbia Rd
Morristown, NJ 07962
US

The Community Relations Committee (CRC) is the public affairs and advocacy arm of UJC MetroWest. CRC works in the areas of Israel and world affairs, government relations, and community-based initiatives. For more information, see the Community Relations Committee web page.

E-mail this Page to a Friend

Printer-Friendly Page

CRC Letter Writing Campaign to Stop Honeywell in Iran

David M. Cote

Copyright © 2001 - 2009 United Jewish Communities. All Rights Reserved Privacy Policy and Terms of Use

Copyright © 2001 - 2009 United Jewish Communities. All Rights Reserved
Privacy Policy and Terms of Use