The STOP THE BOMB coalition will be protesting in Vienna under the slogan "no stage for the Iranian regime" against the Iranian presidency at the OPEC meeting on July 8th, 9:30 a.m. at Schottenring/Wipplingerstraße. The manifestation, organized by STOP THE BOMB, is being supported by Liberales Forum, Grüne Andersrum, Sozialdemokratie und Homosexualität, Aktion gegen den Antisemitismus, Democratic Party Kurdistan-Iran and Christen an der Seite Israels.

Mahmoud Ahmadinejad was initially expected to participate personally in the OPEC summit, which will be chaired by Iran for the first time since 1979. Due to the internal power struggle in Iran, he will send one of his close allies instead: the recently appointed interim minister for oil Mohammed Aliabadi. The spokesperson of STOP THE BOMB, Simone Dinah Hartmann, criticizes that Vienna will provide a stage for the Iranian regime once again: "In any case, a high ranking official of the regime will be present at the summit in order to coordinate its business with oil ministers of Arab despotic regimes and of populist left supporters of the regime such as Venezuela. Representatives of the regime use their international appearances constantly to spread their murderous ideology. The initially planned participation of Ahmadinejad at the OPEC summit reveals the Achilles' heel of the regime: The survival of the dictatorship of Ayatollahs and Revolutionary Guards, that organizes holocaust denial-conferences, threatens Israel with annihilation and continues its nuclear program, strongly depends on Oil and Gas exports. Therefore we demand immediate crippling sanctions in the energy sector in order to prevent the regime from continuing its projects."

Hiwa Bahrami from the Democratic Party of Kurdistan-Iran criticizes the ongoing business with Teheran: "Shortly before the anniversary of the beginning of the crackdown on the Iranian freedom movement we want to remind everybody: Those doing business with the Iranian Regime support its policy. So does Austria: Despite sanctions, Austria's imports to Iran grew by nearly 400 percent during the last year."