UANI Applauds New Jersey for Passing Iran Debarment Legislation

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
August 3, 2012
Contact: Nathan Carleton, [email protected]
Phone: (212) 554-3296

UANI Applauds New Jersey for Passing Iran Debarment Legislation

New York, NY - On Friday, United Against Nuclear Iran (UANI) applauded New Jersey Governor Chris Christie and state lawmakers for passing legislation that bars companies doing business in Iran from receiving New Jersey state government contracts.

This week Governor Christie signed state law S-1304, which states that companies engaged in sanctionable business activities in Iran, including in Iran's energy or finance sectors, will be barred from receiving state contracts. Notably, S-1304includes an important provision enabling New Jersey to expand the scope of business activities covered under its law to conform to new Iran sanctions legislation signed into law at the Federal level.

Said UANI CEO, Ambassador Mark D. Wallace, who last year wrote the Op-Ed "Time Has Come for States to Take Strong Action on Iran":

We applaud the state lawmakers and local leaders of New Jersey, including the Jewish Federation of Greater MetroWest New Jersey, for working to pass Iran debarment legislation. Under no circumstances should a company that is active in Iran be receiving American tax dollars. Since our 2008 founding, UANI has pushed for laws that make companies choose between doing business with U.S. governments or business with the Iranian regime.

U.S. states can play a significant role in imposing an economic blockade against the Iranian regime. We encourage other U.S. states to follow New Jersey, California, Florida, Indiana, Maryland, and New York and force the hand of companies that try to do business with both Iran and U.S. states. In particular we encourage states to adopt provisions, similar to S-1304, that enable states to expand the scope of their Iran sanctions legislation to cover an increasing amount of Iran business activities.

New Jersey is the sixth U.S. state to successfully adapt UANI model legislation into Iran debarment legislation. UANI unveiled the "Iran Business Certification Act" in June 2009, which shortly thereafter was introduced in U.S.

As the Financial Times reported last year, UANI worked with the state of California to implement its Iran debarment law, the 2010 Iran Contracting Act. The first of its kind, California's law pressured numerous multinational corporations to end their business in Iran.

Click here to view UANI's State Certification map.
Click here to visit UANI's model legislation home page.
Click here to read Ambassador Wallace's Op-Ed, "Time Has Come for States to Take Strong Action on Iran."

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