UANI Applauds New York Assembly for Proposing Enhancement of Iran Divestment Act

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE April 23, 2013 Contact: Nathan Carleton, press@uani.com  Phone: (212) 554-3296   UANI Applauds New York Assembly for Proposing Enhancement of Iran Divestment Act New Legislation would Compel Insurers to Divest from Companies Active in Iran New York, NY - On Tuesday, United Against Nuclear Iran (UANI) applauded New York State Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver and his fellow lawmakers for introducing bill A.6855, which would enhance New York's Iran Divestment Act. A.6855 would prohibit New York insurers from including as "admitted assets" investments in companies active in Iran. Insurers use admitted assets to show solvency. UANI actively promoted New York's Iran Divestment Act, which passed in January 2012. It barred companies doing business in Iran from contracting with the state of New York. UANI has urged states to take action to require that insurance companies terminate any investments in companies active in Iran. Said UANI President, Ambassador Mark D. Wallace, who in 2011 wrote the Op-Ed "Time Has Come for States to Take Strong Action on Iran": We applaud Speaker Silver and his colleagues for introducing this bill. This would force insurers to make a choice: divest from Iran, or face the fiduciary consequences of that business. We urge New York lawmakers to pass this legislation, and for Governor Cuomo to sign it into law. Iran's economy is controlled by a regime that is the world's largest state sponsor of terrorism, a brutal abuser of human rights, and is developing an illegal nuclear weapons program. Any firm, company, or other entity that is doing business in Iran must not be held in good standing by the state of New York. Seven states, starting with California, have passed Iran debarment legislation, adapted from UANI model legislation. UANI unveiled the "Iran Business Certification Act" in June 2009, which shortly thereafter was introduced in U.S. Congress as the "Accountability for Business Choices in Iran Act."  As the Financial Times reported, California's debarment law, the 2010 Iran Contracting Act, succeeded in pressuring multinational corporations to end their business in Iran. California publishes a list of companies prohibited from doing business with the state due to their work in Iran. Click here to visit UANI's model legislation home page. Click here to view UANI's State Certification map. Click here to read UANI's 2011 letter to New York lawmakers. Click here to read Ambassador Wallace's 2011 Op-Ed, "Time Has Come for States to Take Strong Action on 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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