UANI Responds to MTN’s Claims that it Adheres to UN Human Rights Policies

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE March 14, 2012 Contact: Nathan Carleton, press@uani.com Phone: (212) 554-3296 UANI Responds to MTN's Claims that it Adheres to UN Human Rights Policies New York, NY - United Against Nuclear Iran (UANI) CEO, Ambassador Mark D. Wallace, released the following statement Wednesday in response to MTN's March 12 press release, which stated that "On human rights, [MTN] takes direction from and adheres to the policies of both the South African government and the United Nations:" If MTN was serious about respecting human rights, it would withdraw from Iran and stop partnering with the world's most notorious human rights violator. Taking direction from the UN on human rights would mean not partnering with a regime that executed 670 people last year and engaged in a wide range of human rights violations including abuse of minorities, homosexuals, and labor activists, according to a new UN investigation. Respecting human rights would also mean not trying to whitewash what MTN is really doing in Iran. MTN is not a liberating force for the Iranian people, as it claims. On the contrary, MTN is partnered with sanctioned Iranian entities with direct links to the IRGC, and has provided the regime with location data on Iranian citizens and carried out orders to shut off text messaging. MTN must end its irresponsible business in Iran, and stop contributing to the regime's continual human rights violations. This week, UN Special Rapporteur Ahmed Shaheed released a new report to the UN Human Rights Council, which found that Iran executed 670 people last year, including homosexuals, juveniles, and religious minorities. UANI launched its MTN campaign in January, and has run online and Facebook advertisements highlighting MTN's work in Iran. MTN Irancell is the second-largest mobile phone network operator in Iran, and the majority of its shares are owned by the Iranian regime, which has exploited MTN's network and technology to monitor and track the activities and communications of peaceful dissidents. Click here to read UANI's February 29 letter to MTN. Click here to read UANI's January 25 letter to MTN. Click here and here to see UANI's MTN advertisements. Click here to send a message to MTN. Click here to read the report of the UN Special Rapporteur on the Situation of Human Rights in Iran. ### 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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