Former European Diplomats and Lawmakers Call on French National Assembly President Claude Bartolone to Raise Human Rights and Terrorism Concerns During Visit to Iran

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE 
July 12, 2016
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New York, NY - European Advisory Board members of the advocacy group United Against Nuclear Iran (UANI) called on French National Assembly President Claude Bartolone to raise concerns over Iran's continued human rights violations and state sponsorship of terrorism during his visit to the country this week.

"While Iran opens its doors to foreign delegations, it struggles to keep the curtains drawn over its continued human rights violations," said UANI Advisory Board member and former Polish Foreign Minister and speaker of the lower house of the Polish parliament Radek Sikorski. "Mr. Bartolone himself has previously condemned the stoning sentence for a woman accused of adultery in Iran, calling on France and Europe to intervene. With executions in Iran at their highest level since 1989, action is needed now more than ever. The European community can't simply sit back and ignore this worrying trend by prematurely rewarding the Iranian regime with lucrative business deals," said Sikorski.

"With French and other European companies considering doing business in Iran, political officials like Mr. Bartolone have a responsibility to raise serious concerns over the country's sponsorship of terrorism and aggression toward its neighbors," said former Italian Foreign Minister Giulio Terzi, a UANI Advisory Board member. "As illustrated by the recent decision of the Financial Action Task Force to keep Iran on its blacklist, there is still acute terrorist financing risk emanating from the country. The illicit financial activities of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps ('IRGC'), which permeates all key sectors of Iran's economy, continue to pose a serious threat both to the international financial system and to individual companies seeking to enter the market."

Media interested in speaking with Giulio Terzi or Radek Sikorski, please contact:[email protected].

About UANI

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.

UANI's Advisory Board consists of leading former diplomats and lawmakers from around the globe, including: Dr. August Hanning, Former Director of Germany's Federal Intelligence Service (BND); Baroness Pauline Neville-Jones, Former United Kingdom Minister for Security; Irwin Cotler, Former Minister of Justice and Former Attorney General of Canada; Radoslaw Sikorski, Former Foreign Minister of Poland; and Giulio Terzi di Sant'Agata, Former Foreign Minister of Italy.