UANI Renews Call for InterContinental Hotels Group to End Iran Business, Calls for Termination of InterContinental’s Contracts with U.S. Army

March 16, 2012

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
March 16, 2012
Contact: Nathan Carleton, [email protected]
Phone: (212) 554-3296

UANI Renews Call for InterContinental Hotels Group to End Iran Business, Calls for Termination of InterContinental's Contracts with U.S. Army


New York, NY - On Friday, United Against Nuclear Iran (UANI) called for the U.S. Congress to ensure that InterContinental Hotels Groups end its business with the Iranian regime or lose its lucrative contacts with the U.S. Government, including the U.S. Army. On Tuesday, UANI called on the InterContinental to reverse its decision to host Iran's delegation during this month's meeting of the United Nations Human Rights Council (HRC) in Geneva, Switzerland.   

     

As part of an agreement with the U.S. Army, military-run lodging facilities, including at such vital U.S. Army installations as Fort Leavenworth and Fort Hood, are being privatized and transferred to InterContinental for management and operation. In 2011 alone, InterContinental added 4,796 rooms in 25 hotels to its system as result of new operations on U.S. Army bases.  

 

In a letter sent March 15, 2012 to Senator Carl Levin and Congressman Buck McKeon, Chairmen of the Senate and House Armed Services Committee, respectively, UANI CEO Ambassador Mark D. Wallace wrote:       

 

At the same time that InterContinental is providing accommodations to members of the criminal Iranian regime, it is also benefiting from lucrative contracts with the U.S. Government to operate transient housing facilities and guest lodging for U.S. armed service members and their families...UANI believes that the U.S. Government should inform InterContinental that by doing business with the Iranian regime, it is jeopardizing its current and future opportunities with the U.S. Government.   

****   

InterContinental has been a great beneficiary of the Privatization of Army Lodging ("PAL") program, a partnership between the U.S. Army and private industry... The benefits accrued by InterContinental under the terms of its agreements with the U.S. Army cannot be understated. For example, InterContinental added 4,796 rooms in 25 hotels to its system as result of new operations on Army bases in 2011 alone.   

****   

Notwithstanding its involvement in the PAL project, InterContinental has also received more than $17.5 million in U.S. Government contracts since 2000. The foregoing does not reflect the full scope of federal contracts that InterContinental and its hotel brands have received.    

****   

As members of the Armed Services Committee, you are uniquely positioned to inform the InterContinental that the provision of accommodations to the brutal regime in Tehran is unacceptable, especially in light of InterContinental's significant and ongoing business with the U.S. Government. The InterContinental should cease its business with Iran or lose its business with the United States.     

 

The InterContinental's decision to host the Iranian delegation for the HRC coincided with the release of a new UN report which found that Iran executed 670 individuals last year, including ethnic minorities, juveniles, and homosexuals.   

 

In 2009, InterContinental hosted Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad at The Barclay New York during the UN General Assembly, a decision which brought The Barclay a great deal of negative publicity.      

 

Click here to read UANI's March 15 letter to the Chairmen of Armed Services Committees.

Click here to read UANI's March 13 letter to the InterContinental Hotels Group

Click here to send a message to the U.S. Government and Intercontinental.

Click here to visit UANI's Hotels Campaign page.

Click here to read report of UN Special Rapporteur on the Situation of Human Rights in Iran.


###