United Against Nuclear Iran (UANI) CEO, Ambassador Mark D. Wallace, issued the following statement Wednesday calling on MTN to clarify its role in Iran’s reported provision of surveillance and tracking equipment to the Assad regime in Syria:

We call on MTN to immediately clarify whether it is aiding the Iranian regime in providing surveillance and tracking equipment to Syria. MTN is a partner of the Iranian regime, through its 49% stake in the Iranian stated-owned mobile network, MTN Irancell. MTN is also a 75% owner of MTN Syria, the country’s second-largest mobile operator. MTN Syria has reportedly blocked text messages at the behest of Syrian intelligence and security forces and cut off internet and cell phone coverage prior to assaults by the Syrian military. MTN must state for the record whether its technology, personnel, or other services are involved in the Syrian regime’s crackdown of opposition forces.

It is widely known that MTN has carried out orders from the Iranian regime to shut off text messaging and Skype during times of political protest in Iran, and reportedly has a floor in its Tehran headquarters where Iranian military officials compile and access data to track, apprehend, torture, and murder regime opponents.

MTN has blood on its hands from assisting the Iranian and Syrian regimes in brutalizing their own people. We call for a global boycott of MTN's products and services and divestment from its stock, until it ends its reckless partnership with the Iranian and Syrian regimes. We also call on the Obama administration to immediately sanction MTN and its networks in Iran and Syria—MTN Irancell and MTN Syria. It is unacceptable that MTN, a complicit partner of the Iranian and Syrian regimes, is still able to raise capital in the U.S., and has not had its assets and property blocked by the U.S. government.

MTN was a charter member of UANI's Iran Business Registry, launched in 2009, and is a continuing focus of UANI’s Tech & Telecom Campaign.

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