UANI Announces Launch of a Petition to Group of 20 Leaders to Impose Harsher Sanctions Against Iran

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
September 1, 2009
Contact: Kimmie Lipscomb, [email protected]
Phone: (212) 554-3296

UANI Announces Launch of a Petition to Group of 20 Leaders to Impose Harsher Sanctions Against Iran

New York, NY -- United Against Nuclear Iran (UANI) today announced the launch of a petition, which calls on the Group of 20 (G-20) leaders to use its September 24th meeting in Pittsburgh to take action to prevent a nuclear-armed Iran.  The launch of the petition comes on the eve of the meeting of officials in Frankfurt, Germany, to consider harsher sanctions against Iran prior to the meeting of the G-20 and the UN at the end of September.  UANI calls on all citizens to send a clear message to the G-20 leaders in support of sanctions against Iran.  UANI will deliver the signed petition to the embassy of each G-20 nation, to the Mayor of Pittsburgh as the Chairman of the G-20 Partnership, and to President Obama.
 
Ambassador Mark D. Wallace, President of United Against Nuclear Iran said of the potential for G-20 action: "History has shown that the most opportune moments for applying economic sanctions can be when a regime is destabilized by domestic unrest.  Domestic opposition combined with the crippled state of Iran's economy provide the members of the G-20 with a timely opportunity to effectively apply economic pressure toward Iran and to compel the regime to cease its illegal nuclear weapons program."
 
The petition reads:
 
"At the last meeting of the G-8 in July leaders stated that the G-8 would give Iran until the next meeting of the G-20 to accept negotiations over its nuclear ambitions or else face tougher sanctions. In the words of President Obama, '[w]e will re evaluate Iran's posture towards negotiating the cessation of a nuclear weapons policy. We'll evaluate that at the G-20 meeting in September.'
 
Since the G-8 meeting, the Iranian regime has continued to pursue its illicit nuclear weapons program, even as it brutally persecutes its own citizens in the aftermath of the Presidential elections on June 12th. The suppression of those who have sought free and democratic elections underscores the thuggish nature of the Iranian regime while countless innocents like Neda Agha-Soltan have been murdered.
 
As we approach the September 24 meeting of the G-20 in Pittsburgh and the deadline set by the G-8, it is becoming clear that President Ahmadinejad, Ayatollah Khamanei and the Iranian regime are not responding to the overtures of engagement put forward by the U.S. and the international community.
 
We therefore urge the U.S., the G-8 and the other members of the G-20 to make full use of its upcoming meeting in Pittsburgh to review its current policy with Iran and to take action to impose comprehensive and effective sanctions and other economic measures on the Iranian regime in the hope that this will compel the Iranian regime to change its behavior and abandon its illicit nuclear program."

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