On 15-16 October 2014, the Grosvenor Square Hotel in London will host the “First Europe-Iran Forum,” organised by European Voice, to explore “the momentous commercial opportunity” created by the recent “positive momentum in the P5+1 diplomatic negotiations” with the Iranian regime.
According to the event’s website, “by bringing together Iranian and European business leaders, the forum intends to provide participants the opportunity to gain expert knowledge about commercial opportunities in Iran.”
Included in the list of guest speakers are a number of high-profile veteran appeasers of the Iranian regime, joined by a host of business leaders who seemingly have no moral qualms about doing business with what the US State Department describes as “the most active state sponsor of terrorism”:
Jack Straw, former UK Foreign Secretary; and Richard Dalton, former UK Ambassador to Iran, are two seasoned practitioners of appeasement. In 2003, both were involved in clinching a deal with the Iranian regime to bomb non-combatant Iranian dissidents living in Iraq, killing 50, in exchange for Tehran’s non-involvement in the Iraq War.
Hubert Vedrine, former French Foreign Minister, is another notorious appeaser. In 1998, he was strongly suspected of arranging the arrest of a French-Iranian opposition activist as a gesture of “good faith” towards the Iranian regime. In the same year, he is alleged to have been involved in the decision to release a convicted Iranian terrorist and assassin as part of “another French concession to Tehran.”
Rouzbeh Pirouz is the Deputy President of the Board of Directors of Iralco, an Iranian company sanctioned by the EU for “assisting designated entities to violate the provisions of UN and EU sanctions on Iran and … directly supporting Iran’s proliferation sensitive nuclear activities.”
Sifiso Dabengwa is the President and CEO of the MTN Group, a South African company accused by United Against a Nuclear Iran (UANI) of “help[ing] the Iranian regime terrorize and oppress its citizens,” being “a complicit partner of the Iranian regime,” and posing “a direct threat to US national security interests.”
Mohammad Reza Ansari is the Chairman of Kayson, an Iranian company allegedly “affiliated with the IRGC [Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps],” and listed by the British government as “as an entity of potential concern for WMD-related procurement.” According to the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), Kayson’s Venezuelan operations are “supervised by Iranian Revolutionary Guard [IRGC] personnel.”
The Iranian regime has gleefully welcomed the “commendable” Europe-Iran Forum, with the Office of the President of the Islamic Republic of Iran writing to European Voice to express its gratitude for “giving Iran the prospect of a competitive presence in the global economy and establishing regional and international interaction with a win-win approach.”
The letter concludes with the words: “I would like to wish you further success with your honorable endeavors for Iran.”
Evidently, the Iranian regime stands to benefit from the Europe-Iran Forum.
Source » standforpeace