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PETER T. KING Commitee oN HOMELAND SECURITY RANKING MEMBER 239 Cannon House Ores BunoMe "Wasiiwron, OC 20818-1203 (202) 225-7886, Penmanenr Sevect Commirtes ‘ON INTELLIGENCE von 2 Congress of the United States ey estan ‘House af Rearesentatitfes dremel wg Washington, HC 20515-3203 FINANCIAL SERVICES ComMITTEE pele kingdmaiLhouragoy December 8, 2010 M. Philippe Soulié Chief Executive Officer, CMA CGM 4, Quai d’Arene 13235 Marseille, France Dear Mr. Soulié: I am writing to express my deep concern about CMA CGM’s business relationship with the Islamic Republic of Iran and to call on CMA CGM to immediately comply with U.S., E.U., and U.N. sanctions and stop servicing ports in Iran, The recent discovery that Iran used a CMA CGM ship to transport containers of weapons from Iran to Nigeria is a cleat and disturbing violation of U.N. Security Council Sanctions. ‘As you are aware, on Tuesday, October 26, 2010, security agents discovered 13 shipping containers of weapons in the Nigerian port of Arapa. According to news reports, the containers had been loaded onto the MV CMA CGM Everest in Bandar Abbas in July. A release by CMA CGM stated that the containers had been falsely declared and sealed by an Iranian businessman who does not appear on an international list of prohibited traders. Since the initial weapons discovery, news reports indicate that Nigeria has reported the arms shipment to the U.N. Security Council for breaching UN. sanctions on Iran, In addition, Azim Adhajani ~ a member of Iran's Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) working in Nigeria — was charged in Nigerian court with importing prohibited weaponry and with conspiring to re-export the illegal shipment to Banjul, Gambia. The IRGC was designated by the U.S. Government as a “specially designated global terrorist” in 2007. | appreciate that CMA CGM has taken steps to seek compliance with U.S., E.U,, and UN, sanotions against Iran, but as current events make clear, the Islamic Republic’s duplicitous nature makes it nearly impossible for any shipper to guarantee that it is not in violation of these sanctions, CMA CGM attempted to address this by requiring a Letter of Indemnity (LOI) for items being shipped to Iran, Unfortunately, the LOI initiative does nothing to address shipments from Iran. The Iranian regime does not only seek to import materials banned by international sanctions, but also to export illegal weapons and materials to friendly regimes and terrorist proxies throughout the region, Furthermore, companies shipping illegal materials to Iran are likely to sign a LOL and then ignore its stipulations. The United States Congress is committed to isolating Iran in order to prevent it from acquiring nuclear weapons, Shipping companies that tum a blind eye and allow themselves to violate sanctions run the risk of facing severe penalties in the U.S. Many international businesses are simply unable to distinguish between Iran’s legitimate and illicit transactions and have opted to cut off Iran entirely. 1 appreciate your immediate attention on this matter and look forward to working with you in the future to institute international regulations to prevent Iran from skirting international sanctions and prevent Iran ftom deceiving international companies into violating the law. Sincerely, PETER T. KING Member of Congress

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