Monday, March 17th 2014

Rally against the Iranian regime at Vienna nuke talks on March 18

STOP THE BOMB criticizes the West's soft line and Austrian Parliamentarians

The coalition STOP THE BOMB will be holding a protest rally in front of the Austria Center Vienna on Tuesday, 18 March 2014, 10:00AM on the occasion of a new round of nuclear talks with the Iranian regime. The rally is endorsed by Vienna's Jewish Community, the Democratic Party of Iranian Kurdistan, the Social Democratic LGBT Organization SoHo, the Green and Alternative Students (GRAS), the Green MP Marco Schreuder and others. The coalition further criticizes the meeting of Austrian Members of Parliament with Iranian Foreign Minister Zarif scheduled for 19 March and calls it another Austrian effort to cosy up to the Iranian regime.

Said Stefan Schaden, spokesperson for STOP THE BOMB in Austria: "Regarding the nuclear program there must not be a bad compromise. The rulers in Tehran won't be impressed by the West's soft line. We demand consistent sanctions, the support of the opposition and the cancellation of the Parliamentary meeting with Zarif." Added GRAS activist Rosa Goldberg: "With this anti-Semitic, misogynous and homophobic regime there cannot be any business as usual."

Said Stephan Grigat, Scientific Director of STOP THE BOMB: "Under the cover of the negotiations the regime accelerates the oppression of the Iranian population. The number of executions has dramatically increased. Due to the lack of Western criticism, the regime can constantly repeat its annihilation threats against Israel and even try to ship advanced weapons to Gaza." An appalled reaction came from SoHo-Chairman Peter Traschkowitsch: "According to media reports, two Iranian homosexuals were executed a couple of days ago. It must be made clear to this homophobic regime, that universal human rights do exist."