UANI, United Against Nuclear Iran, has asked the companies to sign a declaration confirming that they will not carry out any business dealings with Iran until it stops calling for the destruction of Israel and until it stops denying the Holocaust.

So far, not one of the companies has signed the declaration. 

The leaders of Iran say that the Holocaust is a myth and have welcomed an international Holocaust denial cartoon contest. 

In a letter to the companies in question, UANI wrote:  “The Iranian government has institutionalized a culture of anti-Semitism, which is built upon three intertwined tenets: (1) The demonization of Zionists and Jews, (2) advocacy for the destruction of the State of Israel, and (3) Holocaust denial. Holocaust denial, in particular, is a core fountainhead of Iran’s modern anti-Semitism that is domestically endorsed and internationally exported. UANI recognizes that your company does not condone the practice of Holocaust denial. However, we do believe that doing business in Iran offers important financial succour to the Iranian regime and helps to perpetuate its ongoing practices of Holocaust denial, revisionism and trivialization.”

The companies include big names like Volkswagen, Allianz and Siemens.

The President of UANI, David Ibsen, said that it is a great concern that none of the companies have signed the declaration. He said that these companies have “voluntarily signed up for a German initiative acknowledging complicity of German industry in the Holocaust. And yet they are apparently ignoring an opportunity to demonstrate their commitment to defend the memory of the millions of lives destroyed by the Third Reich.”

He added: “Rather they are reportedly pursuing business with a state that inscribes its missiles with ‘Death to Israel’, arms terror proxies dedicated to Israel’s destruction and supports an annual cartoon contest dedicated to mocking, trivializing and denying that historical tragedy. Given the complicity of German industry in the Holocaust and its subsequent commendable effort to make amends, any decision to engage with a regime that denies the Holocaust and chants Death to Israel appears contradictory and also carries considerable reputational and moral risk.”