UANI Applauds Senate Banking Committee for Passing SWIFT Amendment, Urges Senate to Move Forward on Iran Sanctions Legislation

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE February 2, 2012 Contact: Nathan Carleton, press@uani.com Phone: (212) 554-3296 UANI Applauds Senate Banking Committee for Passing SWIFT Amendment, Urges Senate to Move Forward on Iran Sanctions Legislation Senate Banking Committee Approves Bill Based on UANI Model Legislation New York, NY - United Against Nuclear Iran (UANI) applauded the Senate Banking Committee today, and called on the U.S. Senate to strengthen sanctions on Iran by passing legislation that would target the Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication (SWIFT), require companies to disclose their Iran ties, and sanction parties that contribute to Iran's crackdown on dissidents. The U.S. Banking Committee today voted on the Johnson-Shelby "Iran Sanctions, Accountability and Human Rights Act of 2012," based on UANI model legislation. Building on UANI's SWIFT campaign, the committee unanimously passed an amendment that would compel the SWIFT network to end its illegal relationships with Iranian banks and financial institutions. Said UANI President, Ambassador Mark D. Wallace: We thank Senator Robert Menendez, Representative Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, and others for their leadership in introducing legislation to toughen sanctions against Iran and end SWIFT's role in supporting Iran's financial activities. The measures now up for Senate consideration are powerful ones, and UANI originally proposed them to ensure that institutions like SWIFT fully comply with US and European sanctions. By quickly passing this legislation, the Senate can send a clear message to the Iranian regime, SWIFT, and every international institution--Iran is closed for business. The Senate's consideration of Iran sanctions follows legislative action late last year in the U.S. House, when lawmakers passed the Iran Transparency and Accountability Act, which was based on UANI model regulations first devised in 2010 and introduced by Representative Ted Deutch (FL-19) after consultations with UANI. The Iran Transparency and Accountability Act would compel all publicly traded corporations availing themselves of U.S. capital markets to disclose the nature and extent of their Iran business to investors and the public in their public disclosure filings. On Monday, January 30, UANI submitted a detailed legal explanation to SWIFT, international banking and regulatory officials, and U.S. lawmakers, showing how SWIFT is in violation of U.S. and EU sanctions by affording Iranian banks BICs and access to the SWIFT system. Earlier today UANI issued a statement, after SWIFT responded to UANI on its own website. Click here to learn more about UANI's Model Legislation. Click here to read UANI's full letter to SWIFT. Click here to send a message to SWIFT. ### 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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