UANI Renews Call for Manhattan Hotels to Refuse to Host Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad During the 2011 UN General Assembly

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE August 23, 2011 Contact: Nathan Carleton, press@uani.com Phone: (212) 554-3296 UANI Renews Call for Manhattan Hotels to Refuse to Host Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad During the 2011 UN General Assembly New York, NY - On Tuesday, United Against Nuclear Iran (UANI) renewed its call on New York City hotels to refuse to host Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad during this year's United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) next month. On August 16, The Daily Beast published an Op-Ed by UANI President, Ambassador Mark D. Wallace, entitled "Hotels Should Ban Ahmadinejad." Given Ahmadinejad's statements denying 9/11 and the Iranian regime's covert alliance with Al Qaeda, Ambassador Wallace asked whether any Manhattan hotels could "honestly think it appropriate to provide accommodations to the leader of such a detestable government, specifically in the very city where the worst of 9/11 occurred?" On July 21, UANI first called on New York City's hotels to deny accommodation to Ahmadinejad. Now, with the UNGA closely approaching, UANI is renewing its call. In separate letters to a number of New York hotels, including the Hilton Manhattan East, Grand Hyatt New York, InterContinental The Barclay, Millennium UN Plaza and Warwick New York, Ambassador Wallace wrote: It is worth recalling that speaking before the General Assembly last year, Ahmadinejad despicably claimed that the U.S. orchestrated the September 11 terrorist attacks against its own citizens. As President Obama remarked at the time, those comments were "offensive," "hateful" and "inexcusable." With the tenth anniversary of 9/11 approaching this September, and in light of previously undisclosed information regarding the Iranian regime's alleged complicity in the 9/11 attacks, its links to Al-Qaeda and its role in killing American soldiers (The New York Times. "Court Filings Assert Iran Had Link to 9/11 Attacks" and The New York Times. "In Shadow of Death, Iraq and U.S. Tiptoe Around a Deadline"), New Yorkers, and by extension all Americans, will not look kindly on any venues that accommodate Ahmadinejad during his stay here in New York City. *** UANI will publicly highlight and applaud those hotels that make the proper moral decision to not host Ahmadinejad and his delegation. ... We appreciate your cooperation in this matter. Given the urgent nature of this issue please let us hear from you by August 30, 2011. This is the third consecutive year that UANI is leading its Hotels Campaign. In previous years, UANI and its supporters have pressured multiple hotels to deny accommodations to Ahmadinejad and his delegation. In 2009, UANI and its supporters successfully urged The New York Helmsley Hotel, Gotham Hall and the Essex House to refuse to host Ahmadinejad. As a result, Ahmadinejad was effectively quarantined to the InterContinental New York Barclay, the one hotel in New York that agreed to accommodate the Iranian delegation. In 2010, InterContinental made the ethical decision to not host Ahmadinejad, isolating him to the only hotel that would accept him, the Hilton Manhattan East. For its irresponsible decision, Hilton received a great deal of negative publicity in the media, and its guests were significantly inconvenienced. Click here to learn more about UANI's Hotels Campaign. Click here to read the UANI Hotels Op-Ed on The Daily Beast website. ### United Against Nuclear Iran (UANI) is a program of the American Coalition Against Nuclear Iran, Inc., a tax-exempt organization under Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code. The prospect of a nuclear-armed Iran should concern every American and be unacceptable to the community of nations. Since 1979 the Iranian regime, most recently under President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's leadership, has demonstrated increasingly threatening behavior and rhetoric toward the US and the West. Iran continues to defy the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and the United Nations in their attempts to monitor its nuclear activities. A number of Arab states have warned that Iran's development of nuclear weapons poses a threat to Middle East stability and could provoke a regional nuclear arms race. In short, the prospect of a nuclear armed Iran is a danger to world peace. United Against Nuclear Iran (UANI) is a non-partisan, broad-based coalition that is united in a commitment to prevent Iran from fulfilling its ambition to become a regional super-power possessing nuclear weapons. UANI is an issue-based coalition in which each coalition member will have its own interests as well as the collective goal of advancing an Iran free of nuclear weapons. The Objectives of United Against a Nuclear Iran Inform the public about the nature of the Iranian regime, including its desire and intent to possess nuclear weapons, as well as Iran's role as a state sponsor of global terrorism, and a major violator of human rights at home and abroad; Heighten awareness nationally and internationally about the danger that a nuclear armed Iran poses to the region and the world; Mobilize public support, utilize media outreach, and persuade our elected leaders to voice a robust and united American opposition to a nuclear Iran; Lay the groundwork for effective US policies in coordination with European and other allies; Persuade the regime in Tehran to desist from its quest for nuclear weapons, while striving not to punish the Iranian people, and; Promote efforts that focus on vigorous national and international, social, economic, political and diplomatic measures. UANI is led by an advisory board of outstanding national figures representing all sectors of our country.