A city-based advocacy group today asked the Warwick hotel to reverse its decision to host Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and his delegation during the upcoming United Nations General Assembly (UNGA).
United Against Nuclear Iran (UANI) sent a letter to the hotel requesting it refuse to shelter the Iranian leader when he arrives September 19.
“By this letter, UANI requests that the Warwick immediately reconsider its decision and deny accommodation for and refuse to host President Ahmadinejad,” UANI President Mark D. Wallace, who was formerly the US Ambassador to the UN, wrote in the letter.
The Warwick declined a NewsCore request for comment on the matter and would not confirm it had agreed to host Ahmadinejad during his stay.
“By choosing to host the Iranian delegation, the Warwick is accepting blood money from a regime that presents an overwhelming threat to global security,” Wallace wrote. “By turning a blind eye to the regime’s flagrant violations of human rights, support for al-Qaeda and its commitment to an illegal nuclear weapons program, the Warwick is once again facilitating Ahmadinejad’s misuse of UNGA for the purposes of disseminating propaganda of an illegitimate and brutal dictatorship that flouts international law.”
Earlier this month UANI unveiled a billboard in New York City’s Times Square highlighting Iran’s connection to al Qaeda.
The billboard features a large picture of Ahmadinejad raising his hands and states, “As We Remember 9/11 Ten Years Later, al Qaeda’s Silent Partner Is Coming to New York.”
UANI was founded in 2008 by Wallace, the late Ambassador Richard Holbrooke, former CIA Director Jim Woolsey and Middle East expert Dennis Ross.