A German crane manufacturer has denied selling its wares to Iran, which were subsequently used in public hangings.
Human rights groups have lambasted construction company Atlas in recent weeks after pictures appeared on the Internet purportedly showing executions using the company’s products.
Advocacy group United Against Nuclear Iran (UANI) called on chairman Fil Filipov to end the supply of cranes to the Middle Eastern state, however Filipov told the Washington Beacon on Thursday, “We do not ship any cranes to this country,” adding that he had “no idea” how the products ended up in Tehran.
A picture purporting to show an execution using an Atlas crane
Filipov said via email: “We are not the police … we make over 2,000 cranes per year and do not know who imports cranes where … Atlas does not sell cranes to this country!”
“Sure we have an issue,” he added, “cranes are made to be used in construction … what do you suggest Atlas can do? No one has given out any serial numbers so we can check where was the crane sold to?”
In 2013, the Iranian state killed 529 people with the rate continuing under President Hassan Rouhani at around two every day.