Tuesday, September 27th 2016

Austria’s conservative party ÖVP is courting Iran’s nuclear chief Salehi while Social Democratic Parliament Speaker Bures talks about "historical responsibility" in Israel

Chief of Iran's Central Bank in Vienna - German intelligence warns of Iran’s illegal proliferation efforts

Iran’s nuclear chief and Vice President Ali Akbar Salehi, who served as the Islamist regime’s foreign minister under Ahmadinejad, will give a lecture tomorrow, September 28th, at Austria’s Diplomatic Academy, introduced by Director Hans Winkler and hosted amongst others by the Austrian People’s Party’s Political Academy, whose chairman is Austrian Foreign Minister Sebastian Kurz. Only two weeks ago Kurz received another Iranian Vice President, former hostage taker Massoumeh Ebtekar, who had come out in defence of the slogan "Death to Israel".

Also the chief of Iran’s Central Bank, Valiollah Seif, has arrived to Vienna, accompanied by a business delegation. According to Iranian regime media, Seif is set to meet National Bank of Austria Governor Ewald Nowotny and other banking officials today. International media reported that Austria’s Erste Bank, Raiffeisen and Oberbank resumed business with Iran, which is still a high risk due to existing U.S. sanctions. Meanwhile German intelligence reports warn of Iran’s illegal proliferation efforts for goods that can be used for nuclear weapons, ballistic missiles and even biological and chemical warfare capabilities.

Said STOP THE BOMB’s Research Director Stephan Grigat: "During a visit in 2013 Salehi openly threatened critics of the Iranian regime in Austria. In an interview with the Austrian daily 'Wiener Zeitung' Salehi urged critics like STOP THE BOMB to be 'cautious' or they 'could end up in problem situations'. This clearly shows that dialogue is impossible with representatives of this regime, which killed thousands of opposition members. It is both a reprehensible and shortsighted foreign policy that Austria embraces those who are working towards the destruction of the Jewish State, while at the same time Austrian Parliament Speaker Bures offers empty slogans about Austria’s historical responsibility during her visit to Israel."