UANI Warns French Foreign Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault: Business in Iran is Not Worth the Risk for French Companies

January 30, 2017

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
30 January 2017
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UANI Warns French Foreign Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault: Business in Iran is Not Worth the Risk for French Companies

New York, NY – Leaders of the international advocacy group United Against Nuclear Iran (UANI) issued a warning to French Foreign Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault as he travels to Iran to reaffirm the French government’s commitment to the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA).

“As foreign companies have started to enter the Iranian market, those who have benefited most are Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) front companies, not the Iranian people,” said UANI CEO Ambassador Mark D. Wallace.

Ambassador Wallace added: “The Iranian regime has used this influx of foreign money to fuel their brutal crackdown on human rights at home and their sponsorship of terrorism in the region. Given this reality, unfortunately any hope that the JCPOA will help strengthen moderates in Iran is misplaced.”

Over the last year, UANI has engaged in a worldwide campaign to directly warn companies of the risks of doing business in Iran. As dozens of French companies prepare to take part in a Franco-Iranian economic forum on Tuesday, UANI Senior European Advisor and former Italian Foreign Minister Ambassador Giulio Terzi warned: “French companies need to think about who they want to be as corporate citizens and who they want to be doing business with. In the current environment, they should be very wary of engaging in business in Iran.”

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); Sir Richard Dearlove, Former Head of the UK’s MI6; Irwin Cotler, Former Minister of Justice and Former Attorney General of Canada; Radoslaw Sikorski, Former Foreign Minister of Poland; Wolfgang Schüssel, Former Chancellor of Austria; Ana Palacio, Former Foreign Affairs Minister of Spain; and Giulio Terzi di Sant'Agata, Former Foreign Minister of Italy.

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