Statement by UANI on Huawei's Business in Iran

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE November 7, 2011 Contact: Nathan Carleton, press@uani.com Phone: (212) 554-3296 Statement by UANI on Huawei's Business in Iran New York, NY - United Against Nuclear Iran (UANI) President, Ambassador Mark D. Wallace, made the following statement today regarding Huawei's business in Iran, after Huawei publicly defended that business: If Huawei has any interest in being seen as a reputable international company, it should stop parsing legalistic descriptions of its technologies and take responsibility for its decision to provide telecommunications equipment to the Iranian regime. Huawei's statement that its technology is only "for commercial and civilian use" in Iran is not a thoughtful justification for its business, given that many telecommunications firms have left Iran because of the ample and documented evidence of the regime abusing such technology to conduct surveillance and track human rights activists and dissidents. Instead of following the lead of these responsible telecommunications firms, Huawei is using misleading public statements to obscure the fact that it is expanding its presence in Iran even while other telecommunications firms are ending theirs. Saying that its "work in Iran is no different than our work in any other market," is not a valid excuse for Huawei's work, but a sign of Huawei's lack of standards for its business. As UANI previously noted in its letter to Huawei, these other markets are not run by brutal leaders who misuse telecommunications technology to illegally trample on the human rights of their own citizens. For the people of Iran, "misuse" of technology has the same effect that "use" does. If Huawei is concerned about the misuse of its technology by the Iranian regime and reputational harm, it should stop attempting to justify its irresponsible and dangerous Iran business and instead immediately end it. Last week, UANI publicly called on Huawei to end its business in Iran. Click here to read UANI's November 1 letter to Huawei's executives. Click here to send a message to Huawei. ### 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.

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