Millennium & Copthorne Hotels

Hotels
LSE: MLC
UK

"Even now, in the era of happy Hassan Rouhani, questions about the recent prominent Iranian guest triggered palpable discomfort this week among staff at the four-star ONE UN hotel — located on 44th Street, right across from UN headquarters. It turns out Rouhani’s “smiling never hurts” tactic (as it was described by Netanyahu in his withering UN speech on Tuesday) had worked a charm not only with President Barack Obama but with staff at the ONE UN, as well...News that ONE UN would be hosting Rouhani had sparked protests back in August, when a group called United Against A Nuclear Iran (UANI) urged the hotel to turn the Iranians away. ;Certainly the ONE UN is aware that President Rouhani is the public face of a brutal regime that is a sworn enemy of the United States, and which is under strict sanctions by the US government and the international community,' the group’s CEO, Mark Wallace, wrote in a letter to the hotel. No American entity 'should be doing business with the Iranian regime and its delegation, until the regime has seriously and verifiably altered its dangerous and threatening behavior.' While UANI does not intend to 'harm legitimate businesses,' the group will 'publicly highlight' the hotel’s 'irresponsible decision' if it indeed hosts the Iranians, Wallace threatened. (Times of Israel, "A peek into Rouhani’s NY hotel room? No sir, we’d get in trouble," 10/4/13)

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"Iran has found a new home for its delegation during this month’s UN General Assembly in New York City. According to United Against a Nuclear Iran (UANI), which describes itself as a non-partisan, broad-based coalition committed to preventing Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons, the ONE UN New York hotel (formerly known as the Millennium UN Plaza Hotel) plans to house Rouhani and other Iranian officials during their visit to New York City the week of September 22. In a letter to ONE UN General Manager Paul Wong and Wong Hong Ren, CEO of Millennium & Copthorne Hotels, which owns the hotel, UANI CEO, Ambassador Mark D. Wallace warned, 'UANI will publicly highlight [the]… irresponsible decision if you do not take action to refuse accommodation to the Iranian delegation'… This isn’t the first time the hotel has hosted an Iranian delegation. During the May 2010 Nuclear Non Proliferation Treaty (NPT) Review Conference in New York, the Millennium UN Plaza, as it was known at the time, hosted Ahmadinejad and his entourage." (Algemeiner, "Iranian Delegation Finds New Home in New York for UN General Assembly at ONE UN Hotel," 9/15/13)

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"United Against Nuclear Iran (UANI) today called on the Millennium hotel to immediately clarify and reconsider its decision to serve as the official host hotel to President Ahmadinejad during his stay in New York and instead decline to host President Ahmadinejad. In a letter to the Richard Hartman, the CEO of Millennium & Copthorne Hotels Plc and Wanda Chan the General Manager to the Millennium, UANI President Ambassador Mark D. Wallace wrote: 'President Ahmadinejad is the leader of a criminal regime that flouts international law in developing an illegal nuclear weapon, and brutally represses its own people. President Ahmadinejad leads a regime that is the world’s leading state sponsor of terrorism. Just recently President Ahmadinejad called the tragic events of September 11, 2001 a 'big lie'. Simply put it is an outrageous affront to the people of New York City that you would host this man and his delegation. All New Yorkers should reject your hotel if you host this illegitimate 9/11 denying regime...The Millennium’s decision to potentially host President Ahmadinejad is directly contrary to the other New York Hotels and venues that have refused to host this regime including The Helmsley Hotel, Gotham Hall, and The Essex House. If it continues with its decision to host the Iranian regime, the Millennium Hotel will be putting its short-term profit ahead of its responsible role in the New York hotel community." (Business Wire, "UANI Calls on The Millennium Hotel to Refuse to Host President Ahmadinejad," 5/2/10)