In Letter to White House, UANI Calls on President Obama to Support Sanctions Against Iran's Central Bank

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE December 5, 2011 Contact: Nathan Carleton, press@uani.com Phone: (212) 554-3296 In Letter to White House, UANI Calls on President Obama to Support Sanctions Against Iran's Central Bank New York, NY - On Monday, United Against Nuclear Iran (UANI) wrote to President Barack Obama, and called on him to support sanctions against Iran's Central Bank. The Obama administration has been resisting such sanctions, even though all 100 members of the U.S. Senate voted last week to add them by amendment to the National Defense Authorization Act. In a Monday letter to President Obama, UANI President, Ambassador Mark D. Wallace, wrote: ... UANI is concerned about recent reports that your administration is opposed to placing comprehensive, robust sanctions against the regime, including against Bank Markazi, Iran's central bank. As you are aware, such action has broad support as demonstrated most recently by the unanimous passage in the Senate of an amendment to the National Defense Authorization Act ("NDAA"), requiring sanctions on financial institutions that do business with Bank Markazi. This amendment followed an earlier letter you received from 92 Senators urging similar action. Bank Markazi is the financial nerve center of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps ("IRGC"), the entity directly responsible for Iran's proliferation procurement efforts and sponsorship of terrorist activities. There is perhaps no other entity than Bank Markazi which, if sanctioned, would put substantive pressure on the Iranian regime to enter into meaningful negotiations. Any short-term economic disruption that may result from sanctioning Bank Markazi pales in comparison to the disruption that will be unleashed should Iran acquire a nuclear weapon. While hopefully the United States can persuade other members of the international community to support an imposition of sanctions against Bank Markazi, the imposition of even unilateral sanctions would severely hamper Bank Markazi, and by consequence the IRGC, from operating internationally. Click here to read UANI's full letter to President Obama. ### 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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