Traffic in Tehran. Photo: Milad Mosapoor via Wikimedia Commons.

With the North American International Auto Show underway in Detroit, an advocacy group has launched a new campaign to warn members of the industry about the dangers of doing business with Tehran.

“Automakers brokering deals in Iran are supporting — both financially and technologically — one of the largest economic sectors in Iran, which is dominated by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), a sanctioned terrorist organization,” United Against Nuclear Iran (UANI) CEO Ambassador Mark D. Wallace said in a statement. “American consumers have made it clear that they will not buy products from companies aiding the leading state-sponsor of terrorism whose rallying cry is ‘Death to America.’”

UANI Chairman and ex-US Senator Joseph Lieberman stated, “Companies need to think twice before they choose to drive to Tehran.”

According to UANI, Fiat Chrysler, Kia Motors, Nissan and Volkswagen all are reportedly in the midst of negotiating deals with the Islamic Republic.

“Doing business with Iran’s automotive sector means doing business with the IRGC,” Ambassador Giulio Terzi — UANI’s senior European adviser and a former Italian foreign minister – stated. “Italian companies, like Fiat, can find themselves inadvertently financing Iran’s acts of terrorism around the world, including in Iraq and Syria. The risks are just too great.”

As part of its campaign, UANI is running TV, print and digital ads over the course of the next week.

Last month, investigative journalist Edwin Black told The Algemeiner that the plans of the Volkswagen-owned Czech vehicle manufacturer Skoda to operate in Iran were morally troubling, given the German automotive giant’s Nazi roots.