UANI Launches International Campaign Highlighting Risks of Doing Business in Iran

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November 5, 2015
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UANI Launches International Campaign Highlighting Risks of Doing Business in Iran 
Foreign Policy and Defense Experts Release Open Letter on Iran Business Risks

New York, NY - United Against Nuclear Iran (UANI) announced today the launch of an international campaign warning companies worldwide about the substantial legal, financial, and reputational risks of doing business in Iran.
 
Some businesses have interpreted the adoption of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) as a green light to pursue new ventures in Iran. UANI's campaign highlights the significant sanctions still in place, calling on companies to exercise extreme caution until Iran demonstrates sustained compliance with the JCPOA, and ceases its sponsorship of terrorism, widespread human rights violations, and destabilizing aggression in the region.

"Those rushing to ink Iran business deals in the wake of the JCPOA are in danger of exposing their firms to a multitude of severe financial and reputational risks that responsible organizations would consider unacceptable," said UANI CEO Mark D. Wallace, a former U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations. "These dangers were further evidenced by recent reports that the Iranian regime has detained two businessmen visiting Iran."

As part of today's launch, UANI released an open letter detailing the many hazards that business with Iran could trigger, signed by dozens of prominent defense and foreign policy experts. Signatories include former Homeland Security Advisor Fran Townsend, former Acting and Deputy CIA Director Michael Morell, former Attorney General Michael Mukasey, Senators Kit Bond and Norm Coleman, Ambassador Dennis Ross, and former National Security Advisor to the Vice President John Hannah, among others. The letter calls on the global business community to fully consider the potentially grave consequences of business ties to Iran, citing a host of risks. The letter reads in part:

"Severe legal, financial, and reputational risks associated with Iran business will continue for the foreseeable future--unless and until Iran fundamentally changes its behavior. Consequently, companies should conclude that business opportunities in Iran still are not worth the risk."

"No company wants to have their funds and goods used for nefarious purposes," said UANI Chairman and former U.S. Senator Joseph Lieberman. "Beyond the danger of supporting terrorism or human rights abuses, companies should appreciate the many policy hurdles, restrictions, and penalties still in effect under the JCPOA. Doing business now in Iran is not a Gold Rush. It is a gamble with serious business risks."

Click here to read the Open Letter.

UANI is a non-profit, non-partisan advocacy group aimed at preventing Iran from obtaining nuclear weapons. An outspoken and tireless advocate for implementation of a robust sanctions regime against Iran, UANI has been at the vanguard of efforts to ensure that any U.S. agreement with Iran is solidly in the national security interests of the United States and precludes Tehran's efforts to develop nuclear weapons.

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