Wednesday, April 13th 2011
Indignation over OMV participation at energy fair in Iran
STOP THE BOMB criticizes growth of Austrian business with Iran, as well as the OMV and OENB appearances in Tehran
The STOP THE BOMB coalition criticizes Austria's growing Iran business despite enacted sanctions against the Iranian regime. Austria's imports from Iran increased by 400 percent to more than 300 million euros, in 2010 according to Statistic Austria. Also, exports grew by 6.2 percent despite sanctions. This development is being continued in the first months of 2011. "The sanctions that were enacted have proven insufficient. In order to make the pursue of their projects impossible, the implementation of tough measures, especially in the energy sector, are necessary" demands STOP THE BOMB spokesperson Simone Dinah Hartmann: "The ongoing nuclear weapons and missile program pursued by the Iranian regime threatens to get out of focus because of recent major political events. That is what the antisemitic regime in Tehran wants, as it is financing its inhuman politics through foreign trade."
While corporations like Siemens deliberately withdraw from Iran and call for tougher sanctions in order to have legal security for the annulation of their old contracts, Austrian companies such as Voestalpine continue their business as usual. The Austrian exemplary company had a revenue in a double digit million Euro range, which they do not intend to change in the coming year. OMV is the EU's only major energy company, that will be present at the Iran Oil Show, which is taking place on Saturday in Tehran. The Iranian Central Bank is having an account at the Austrian Oberbank. Companies such as VADO-Group of which is being reported by businessmen in Iran that they show off by claiming that they could provide everything despite sanctions, do not raise any interest of Austrian politics or justice.
A cultural backing for the continuous trade relationship is being delivered by a visit of the general director of the Austrian National Library, Johanna Rachniger, who is traveling with a delegation to Iran to meet Seyyed Mohammad Hosseini, Iranian minister for culture and Islamic jurisprudence, who is a major figure in the Ahmadinejad government. He is the one providing the guidlines for islamic "virtue terror", which is brutally implemented by the Basij militias. Hiwa Bahrami of the Democratic Party Kurdistan-Iran stresses that such visits are useful for the regime only: "The propaganda machinery of Ahmadinejad and Khamenei exploits this visit to present it as a big success. There is no 'unpolitical' cultural exchange. Meeting such people legitimizes the regime, which has already lost its legitimacy among its people and therefore backstabs the Iranian Freedom movement."
