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OMV - Murder and More?

On Wednesday the 14th of May the OMV shareholders’ meeting is taking place in Vienna. In this meeting the topic of the planned billion Euro deal with Iran will be covered. The campaign STOP THE BOMB – Coalition Against The Iranian Extermination Programme, which has been mobilizing against doing business with the Iranian regime with an international petition since the end of last year and lately with the conference “The Iranian threat”, has been preparing for this shareholders’ meeting for months. Members of the coalition are going to take part at the meeting to give utterance to their criticism. They are going to ask specific questions regarding the deal with Iran and insist on their right as smallholders to get answers. There are also protest actions planned to be held around this meeting.

International Conference

May 3rd/4th 2008
Camp of the University of Vienna, courtyard 2, lecture room C1
Conference languages: English / German (simultaneous translation)

Patronage: Dr. Brigitte Bailer-Galanda, Kammerschauspielerin Elisabeth Orth

Video message by Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Prof. Elie Wiesel

Speakers:
Menashe Amir, Hiwa Bahrami, Niloofar Beyzaie, MEP Paulo Casaca, Dr. Patrick Clawson, Dr. Stephan Grigat, Simone Dinah Hartmann, Prof. Jeffrey Herf, Kayvan Kaboli, Dr. Matthias Küntzel, Florian Markl, Yossi Melman, Prof. Benny Morris, Dr. Michael Oren, Thomas von der Osten-Sacken, Robert Schindel, Bruno Schirra

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No Deals with the Iranian mullahs!

In the upcoming months Austria's biggest state-controlled oil company, OMV AG, plans to enter into a 22 Billion Euro Agreement with Iran. This agreement will irrevocably turn Austria and Europe into strategic partners and accomplices of the Iranian political regime; a regime that supports international terrorism and violently represses its own population: The Iranian determination to develop nuclear weapons which could directly affect Europe’s security, is posing the greatest threat to world peace. The systematic persecution of Kurds, religious minorities such as the Bahai, and the executions of homosexuals as well as the ongoing repression of women who don’t submit to the Islamic moral code, are essential elements of this regime, as are the continuous threats of annihilation towards Israel and the denial of the Shoah.

We therefore call – particularly upon the Austrian government – for ceasing "critical negotiations" with the mullahs and demand instead to take the following measures:

• Immediate discontinuation of the negotiations between the OMV and the Iranian mullahs on the basis of unilateral sanctions
• Cessation of any credit support provided by the Austrian Control Bank for transactions with Iran
• Imposition of effective and comprehensive UN and EU sanctions in order to isolate the Iranian regime politically and economically
• Support of those Iranian opposition groups which continue to fight for a secular, liberal and democratic Iran and provide for a genuine alternative to the current regime

The Austrian-Iranian trade relations

• Austrian exports to Iran are secured by government guarantees from the administration. According to the Oesterreichische Kontrollbank AG, Iran ranked number 5 in 2005 among those nations which profited from such guarantees. Since 2004 an Austrian-Iranian protection of investment and a double taxation agreement exists.
• On April 21st 2007 the OMV signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Iran concerning the completion of a joint natural gas project. According to the OMV the company will invest in parts of the natural gas field South Pars in the Persian Gulf, in a liquefaction plant and in subscriber agreements for liquefied natural gas. The company has not publicized any figures regarding the financial scope of the investment, but the Austrian daily newspaper “der Standard” reported that the contract with the National Iranian Oil Company (NIOC) amounts to nearly 22 billion euros over the next 25 years. The OMV is Austria's top listed industrial company, the biggest oil corporation in Central Europe.