UANI Calls on Hispasat's Carlos Espinós Gómez to Act Responsibly, End Hispasat's Broadcast of Iranian Regime Programming

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE November 20, 2012 Contact: Nathan Carleton, press@uani.com  Phone: (212) 554-3296      UANI Calls on Hispasat's Carlos Espinós Gómez to Act Responsibly, End Hispasat's Broadcast of Iranian Regime Programming New York, NY - Today, United Against Nuclear Iran (UANI) called on Spain's Hispasat and its CEO, Carlos Espinós Gómez, to cease its unreasonable justifications for its business in Iran and immediately stop broadcasting Iranian regime programming. In a November 9 letter to Gómez, UANI CEO, Ambassador Mark D. Wallace, called on Hispasat to "cease the broadcast of all Iranian regime transmissions via the Hispasat 1C satellite, including that of the Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting (IRIB) and its affiliates such as Press TV. "[B]y providing services to the Iranian state-owned IRIB," wrote Ambassador Wallace, "Hispasat is working directly with the brutal Iranian regime. ... IRIB is notorious for broadcasting libelous programs and disseminating hate speech against religious minorities, peaceful dissidents and civil society activists ... [and] producing and broadcasting various 'show trials' of Iranian prisoners." This week, Gómez sent a response to UANI, stating that he would not cease Hispasat's broadcast of Iranian regime programming until asked to by Spanish authorities. "[I]f such a request is made to us," wrote Gómez, "we will be delighted to collaborate with the Spanish authorities and comply with the request. ... Nevertheless we have not been notified so far." In refusing to cease its broadcast of Iranian programming, Hispasat stands as an outlier in comparison to Hong Kong's Asiasat, Canada's Telesat, British telecommunications company Arqiva, and European satellite provider Eutelsat, who all recently ceased their broadcasting of regime programming in response to UANI. Said Ambassador Wallace: It is unfortunate that a prominent satellite provider like Hispasat would offer such a callous response to the international community's legitimate, moral and legal concerns with its Iran business activities. The issues involved -- nuclear weapons, freedoms, and human rights -- are too serious to be dismissed with legal parsing. If Hispasat wants to be thought of as a responsible actor, it must take responsibility for what is being broadcast on its airwaves. It is time for Hispasat to follow the lead of its counterparts such as Intelsat, Telesat and Hispasat shareholder Eutelsat, and end its business activities in Iran, particularly given that services and technologies provided by Hispasat are being used to perpetrate terrible crimes against the people of Iran. Click here to view UANI's letter to Hispasat. Click here to send a message to Hispasat. ###  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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