Thursday, October 9th 2014

Iran Investment Conference in London is Premature and Harms Prospects for Peace

German-Iranian Chamber of Commerce and British Economist Group undermine Western position in the nuclear negotiations with Iran

Press release by STOP THE BOMB & Henry Jackson Society
Berlin / London / Vienna, October 9th, 2014

The European-wide campaign STOP THE BOMB and the transatlantic think tank The Henry Jackson Society have jointly denounced the "1st Europe-Iran Forum" in London, which aims to comprehensively expand European trade with Iran. The conference will take place in London on 15-16 October and is supported by the office of Iranian President Hassan Rouhani.

The conference brings together Iranian lobbyists, European companies and free-market proponents from the media and the political spheres. In doing so the congress threatens the international efforts to stop the Iranian nuclear weapons programme.

Davis Lewin, Deputy Director at The Henry Jackson Society commented: "Negotiations with Iran are at a critical stage, and the signs are not encouraging - Iran has been unyielding over several key aspects of it's nuclear programme, including some of the most troubling aspects such as access to the sites suspected of being used for weaponisation tests. Europe's scramble to do business with this regime is thus not only premature, but rather events such as these hinder progress to a peaceful resolution because they decrease the price Iran has to pay for its dangerous actions. It is disappointing to see this event take place in London, when the British government is a leader in Europe in working to stem the threat from Tehran's illegal nuclear programme".

The event takes place against the backdrop of faltering nuclear negotiations with Iran. Alongside the British Economist Group, the event will be hosted by the German-Iranian Chamber of Commerce, which has long been committed to lobbying for an unconditional end of sanctions against the Iranian regime. The London event comes as Tehran – just a few days ago – hosted an anti-Semitic conference with international Holocaust deniers.

STOP THE BOMB’s European spokesman Michael Spaney asserted: "President Rouhani is not a reformer – the number of executions in Iran have continued to increase during his presidency. Nor is the Iranian regime a stabilising partner in the Middle East – it bears major responsibility for years of destabilisation in Iraq and the consequential spread of Islamic State terror. The actions of the Iranian Revolutionary Guards and Hezbollah terrorists against the Syrian population are just as brutal as those committed by Islamic State. This congress is a reward for Iran’s terrorism."

The STOP THE BOMB campaign and the Henry Jackson Society are supporting a protest rally on the morning of 15 October, which will be taking place in front of the London Marriot Hotel in Grosvenor Square, where the "1st Europe-Iran Forum" is to be hosted.