UANI Renews Call for Sanctions on South African Telecom Company MTN and Calls on U.S. Congress to Hold Investigative Hearings Following More Evidence of MTN's Impropriety

   

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE September 10, 2012 Contact: Nathan Carleton, press@uani.com  Phone: (212) 554-3296   UANI Renews Call for Sanctions on South African Telecom Company MTN and Calls on U.S. Congress to Hold Investigative Hearings Following More Evidence of MTN's Impropriety   New York, NY - On Monday, United Against Nuclear Iran (UANI) called on members of U.S. Congress to hold hearings on MTN, and subpoena MTN Group President and CEO Sifiso Dabengwa. MTN, a South African telecom giant, has repeatedly engaged in sanctionable activity, high-order corruption, and human rights violations in Iran as a result of its partnership with the Iranian regime. On Friday, South Africa's Mail and Guardian published the article "National Anti-MTN adverts get local gag," revealing that South African advertisers are fearful of running a UANI billboard in Johannesburg highlighting MTN's irresponsible work in Iran. Said UANI CEO, Ambassador Mark D. Wallace: MTN's partnership with the Iranian regime has repeatedly resulted in sanctionable activity, corruption, and human rights violations in Iran. Now, the latest in MTN's litany of egregious behavior is the repression of free speech in South Africa.   As the Mail and Guardian reports, South African advertisers are fearful of publishing anything critical of MTN. MTN's actions in both Iran and South Africa, such as shutting off text messaging and chilling opposing views, do not foster free expression: they stifle it. MTN's employees and customers should have the opportunity to see UANI's MTN billboard. MTN is a direct threat to U.S. national security interests and the human rights of the Iranian people. Congress should hold hearings on MTN, and subpoena its executives, including CEO Sifiso Dabengwa. Mr. Dabengwa and others must answer for MTN's actions, including its subversions of U.S. sanctions, and its outrageous behavior of pressuring a South African diplomat into not voting to refer Iran to the UN Security Council. We call for a global boycott of MTN's products and services.   MTN was a charter member of UANI's Iran Business Registry, launched in 2009, and a continuing focus of UANI's Tech & Telecom Campaign. MTN is the primary partner of the Iranian regime's mobile telecommunications networks, as a 49% shareholder in MTN Irancell, the rest of which is owned by the regime itself. MTN has carried out orders from the regime to shut off text messaging and Skype during times of political protest, and reportedly has a floor in its Tehran headquarters where Iranian military officials compile and access tracking data. Click here to read the Mail and Guardian article, "National Anti-MTN adverts get local gag." 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. ###                                                                         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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