Volvo Group Under Pressure for Transporting Iranian Missiles

As Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif leads a business delegation to Sweden the week of May 30th, a group of prominent diplomats and lawmakers are stepping up pressure on the Volvo Group and other Swedish companies, warning them of the risks of doing business with Iran.

“It is a dangerous scenario: While the Iranian regime pushes ahead with its ballistic missile program, the Volvo Group – whose heavy trucks have reportedly been used to transport Iranian missiles and other heavy weaponry – is increasing its business with the regime,” said United Against Nuclear Iran (UANI) Chairman Senator Joseph I. Lieberman and CEO Ambassador Mark D. Wallace.

UANI is in the midst of a global education and awareness campaign focused on the corporate risks of doing business with Iran. In addition to the Volvo Group, UANI has recently raised concerns with the ABB Group, Sandvik Materials Technology, Verisec AB, and Pomegranate Investment.

UANI successfully pressured the Volvo Group to end its Iran business in 2013 after photographic evidence apparently showed the regime had used Volvo equipment and technology to transport Iranian missiles. Volvo owns iconic American truck maker Mack and has received nearly $200 million in U.S. Federal Government contracts since 2000, 90% of which came from the U.S. Department of Defense. Last year, however, Volvo reportedly resumed its Iran business.

“Severe business risks exist for companies thinking about investing with the Ayatollah, including doing business with the wide array of front companies tied to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, a terrorist organization sanctioned by the United States and the international community,” said Lieberman and Wallace.

UANI is an independent, not-for-profit, non-partisan, advocacy group founded in 2008 by Ambassador Mark D. Wallace, Ambassador Richard Holbrooke, former CIA Director Jim Woolsey and Middle East Expert Ambassador Dennis Ross, that seeks to heighten awareness of the danger the Iranian regime poses to the world.

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