UANI Calls on Mazda to End Iran Business as Part of IRGC Campaign

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE March 19, 2012 Contact: Nathan Carleton, press@uani.com Phone: (212) 554-3296 UANI Calls on Mazda to End Iran Business as Part of IRGC Campaign New York, NY- On Monday, United Against Nuclear Iran (UANI) called on Japanese automaker Mazda Motor Corporation (Mazda) to end its ongoing business activities in Iran as part of its IRGC Campaign. The purpose of UANI's IRGC Campaign is to identify companies and entities that are owned, operated or controlled by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corp. (IRGC) -- the driving ideological, security and military force behind the Iranian regime -- and to highlight the relationships between those dangerous entities and multinational corporations. Mazda is tied to the IRGC through its long-standing partnership with the Bahman Group (Bahman), a Tehran-based manufacturing conglomerate that is licensed to manufacture and assemble Mazda vehicles. Bahman is 45.5 percent owned by the IRGC's Sepah Cooperative Foundation. In 2010, according to the Iran Vehicle Manufacturer Association, Bahman produced a total of 36,891 Mazda vehicles in Iran. UANI is calling on Mazda to cease its business with the IRGC, considering the IRGC's major role in Iran's ballistic missile and nuclear weapons programs and in suppressing Iran's internal pro-democracy movement. Automakers such as Mazda that receive federal government contracts should certify with the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) that they are not engaged in business in Iran, or engaged in the implementation of any agreement with Iranian entities. In a March 15, 2012 letter to Mazda CEO Takashi Yamanouchi, UANI CEO Ambassador Mark D. Wallace wrote: By collaborating with the Bahman Group, Mazda is supporting the IRGC and its ability to pursue weapons of mass destruction and sponsor terrorist acts around the globe. In 2010, a Mazda spokesman claimed Mazda was unaware that Bahman is linked to the IRGC. Mazda can no longer hide behind this veil of ignorance. It is time for Mazda to end its relationship with the Bahman Group and pull out of Iran. The urgency of this matter is heightened by the fact that Mazda is also the recipient of lucrative federal contracts from the U.S. government. According to The New York Times, between 2000 and 2010, Mazda received approximately $2.4 billion in U.S. federal contracts and grants. (The New York Times,"Profiting From Iran, and the U.S.," 3/12/2010) Companies doing business that supports Iran's nuclear weapons program have been the subject of a number of sanctions adopted by the U.S. Congress. Two years ago, for example, the United States passed the Comprehensive Iran Sanctions Accountability and Divestment Act of 2010, whichspecifically calls for the U.S. government to refuse to award contracts to companies doing business with entities, particularly the IRGC, that support Iran's nuclear and other WMD programs. Pending U.S. legislation, including the Iran Threat Reduction Act, would levy sanctions against any company worldwide such as Mazda that does business with any subsidiary or affiliate of the IRGC, like the Bahman Group. UANI has requested a response by March 26, 2012. Click here to read UANI's full letter to Mazda. Click here to send a message to Mazda. Click here to view UANI's IRGC Campaign Page. ### 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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