Friday, August 29th 2008
STOP THE BOMB criticizes OMV sponsoring of Iran
Campaign against the Iranian nuclear program announces activities surrounding election campaign events
The non-partisan coalition STOP THE BOMB, which is engaged in an international petition and further activities in Vienna against deals with the Iranian regime, condemns OMV's sponsorship of "Iran's second Gas Export Conference" which will take place October 4th and 5th in Tehran as reported in yesterday's press. Simone Dinah Hartmann, spokeswoman of STOP THE BOMB, notes: "The Austrian multinational corporation obviously does not only want to keep the Iranian dictatorship alive with its planned multi-billion dollar deal, but is now also directly financing economic promotion activities of the Iranian terror regime."
At the political level, Austria seems to undermine the isolation of the Iranian terror regime. According to a report by "Die Presse," Austria is pleading against further sanctions at the EU level. Iranian sources even say that the Austrian ambassador in Tehran, Michael Postl, proclaimed that both Austria and the EU are interested in the further development of economic relations with Iran. The Austrian Foreign Trade Office in Tehran will send its own trade delegate to Vienna, to explain to Austrian companies in individual discussions the market opportunities in Iran. Numerous Austrian companies will be present at industrial and trade fairs in the coming autumn in Tehran. Chamber of Commerce President Leitl and Vice-President Schenz this year have already visited Iran, and an Austrian economic mission to the Ayatollahs’ regime has been announced for October. Hiwa Bahrami, Austrian representative of the Democratic Party of Kurdistan-Iran, a coalition partner of STOP THE BOMB, highlights the special role of Austria: "The number of countries that understand the threat posed by the Iranian nuclear program is growing, and they are demanding stronger measures against the regime in Tehran. Vienna, on the other hand, is trying to strengthen relations with Iran."
STOP THE BOMB will present its criticism during election campaign events in the coming weeks, starting on Friday with an information stand at the SPÖ (Social Democratic party) election campaign in the Vienna Stadthalle. The coalition wants to confront party members with the question of whether they should withdraw their support for doing business in Iran, such as the OMV deal, in light of the Iranian nuclear program, the threats against Israel, and other Iranian government practices. Over the past 30 years in Iran, tens of thousands of Social Democrats, trade unionists and other opponents of the regime were murdered, and hundreds of thousands were tortured and driven into exile. STOP THE BOMB will ask instead that they support the secular opposition. Similar activities with other political parties will follow.
