The new report of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) that details Iran's relentless pursuit of nuclear weapons, combined with Iran's brazen plot to assassinate the Saudi ambassador to Washington, brings to mind the stark warning of U.S. Congressman Brad Sherman. He said that if Iran gets nuclear weapons, we will see "terrorism on steroids". To address this threat, the U.S. government has adopted tough sanctions on Iran. However, there is much more the American people can do to support the efforts of our government on Iran.
First, it is important to understand how Iran earned the title as the world's 'most active state sponsor of terrorism' from the U.S. State Department. It is well known that Iran is the primary sponsor of Hamas and Hezbollah and has provided both organizations with thousands of rockets and missiles that have targeted Israeli civilians over the past decade. More recently, Iran has supplied terrorists in Gaza with upgraded Grad rockets that now extend their range to the Tel Aviv metropolitan area.
As columnist Bradley Burston recently wrote in a poignant column in the Israeli newspaper Haaretz, "My daughter went to school this morning worried about her civics exam. She came home worried about explosive warheads ... As of this week, she's in range. Her school is now within reach of rockets that travel farther and with far more deadly payloads than the weapons we knew just a short time ago".
However, the plot to assassinate the Saudi ambassador highlights the fact that Iran is not just a threat to Israel. A report on the website of United Against Nuclear Iran (UANI) provides details of Iran's longstanding connections to al-Qaeda (www.uani.com). We should also be aware that Iran provides weapons and training to the Taliban in Afghanistan that has resulted in the killing and wounding of American soldiers. Therefore, it should come as no surprise that the Iranian regime has been helping Syria, its close ally, in the brutal repression of the popular uprising through the provision of technical support.
If the facts mentioned above are not enough to get our attention, imagine the nightmare scenario of Iran passing a nuclear weapon to a terrorist organization that puts it in a suitcase and explodes it in London, New York or Tel Aviv.
Given the increasingly dangerous nature of the Iranian regime, now is the time for us to use the vast economic power of America to compliment the sanctions imposed by the U.S. government. To that end, UANI has sponsored a bold new model for action at the state level called Iran Debarment Legislation. The idea behind this legislation is simple. It requires any company signing a contract with the state for more than $1,000,000 to certify that it is not engaged in Iran's energy sector. This strategy is premised on the fact that most of the revenues of the Iranian regime come from the production and sale of oil and natural gas. Yet absent the help of foreign companies, Iran is incapable of exploiting its own natural resources.
So far, the state legislatures of California and Florida have passed this law and similar bills are now being introduced in Indiana and New York.
In California, nearly 50 companies will be impacted by this legislation and presented with a clear choice: if they choose to do work in Iran's energy sector, they will be barred from signing contracts with the state of California.
It is important to recognize that the Iranian regime is not only a danger to the world, it is also a danger to its own people. Since 1993, the organization Human Rights Watch, has documented 'numerous cases of torture' against political prisoners in Iranian jails including beatings and rape as a form of intimidation. In addition, since 1979, the Iranian regime has consistently persecuted members of the Baha'i faith.
Finally, we can begin to ask ourselves some tough questions. Since American companies are not allowed to work in Iran's energy sector, should American citizens invest in non-U.S companies working in Iran's energy sector? Should the international mutual funds that we invest in have holdings in these companies? Our investment decisions do have moral consequences. Investing in foreign companies doing business as usual with Iran- especially its energy sector- legitimizes Iranian sponsorship of terror, its flagrant abuse of human rights and undermines the sanctions of our own government.
The great German human rights activist Dietrich Bonhoffer, who resisted Nazi oppression, wrote, 'Silence in the face of evil is itself evil.' Yet we are not helpless, and we need not remain silent. By supporting Iran Debarment Legislation in our state legislatures and avoiding investment in companies engaged in Iran's energy sector, we can send the Iranian regime a powerful message: No more business as usual with the world's leading state sponsor of terror.
