Surf’s Not Up for the Mullahs
The California State Assembly is evidently fed up with Ahmadinejad & Company. They overwhelmingly passed a bill Thursday that would, if it also passes the State Senate and gets the Governor's signature, require the state's huge pension funds to divest all holdings in Iranian companies. Ardeshir Arian has been following this historic legislation for PJM.
Last Thursday, the California State Assembly overwhelmingly passed (75-0) Assembly Bill 221 to divest California’s public retirement funds from key foreign businesses that invest in the Islamic Republic of Iran. This historic legislation is the first or its kind in America.
The bill will go onto the California State Senate later this summer, where it is expected to pass, and then be sent to Governor Schwarzenegger for signature.
The bill was introduced by Assemblyman Joel Anderson’s (R-El Cajon) who said “California’s taxpayers should not be investing in a country which funds terrorism.” He added “Money is the mother’s milk of terrorism.”
Final passage of this bill would prohibit California’s two largest pension funds CalPERS and CalSTRS (they are also the nation’s two largest) from investing public employee retirement funds in companies with business operations in Iran. Other states are said to be considering following suit.
Roozbeh Farahanipour, a student activist and an ex-political prisoner, who testified in Sacramento in favor of passing AB-22 , told Pajamas Media that the huge amount of 24 billion dollars that would be divested is almost equal to the amount of Islamic regime’s annual military budget.
As we stated in our last report, AB-221 faces opposition from groups often considered to be apologist for the Islamic regime like the National Iranian American Council (NIAC). Many Iranian expatriates around the world and in the US, including crown prince of Iran, Reza Pahlavi, support the legislation.
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6 Comments
1. Theo Spark:Good move the sooner Britain and the EU (fat chance) do the same the better. The Mullahs and Imadinnerjacket can be beaten through econonic measures, failing that it could be war!!
Jun 9, 2007 - 7:48 am 2. Fred Beloit:One thing, though, I certainly wouldn’t want my retirement funds invested or disinvested by politicians because of the latest political hot wire. That is no way to protect nor increase retirement money. Personally, I would prefer to invest only tax funds into attacking Iran, should that become finally necessary. But we seem so weak-willed now that half of us can’t bear to take 3500 war fallen volunteers out of a population of 300,000,000 (WSJ). So perhaps we will just sit by and watch Iran terrify other nations. After all, the Government cannot even summon the will to unequivocally protect our own borders.
Jun 9, 2007 - 9:54 am 3. Roozbeh Farahanipour:Iranians Opposed to the Regime Applaud California on Iran Divestment Bill
The Marze Por Gohar Party is delighted that the government of California has ratified Assemblyman Joel Anderson’s divestment bill. The passage of Assembly Bill 221 makes clear that the government of California will not abet in the oppression of Iranians by investing in companies that have business dealing with the Islamic Republic. The Islamic Republic finds it more important to fund terrorist organizations throughout the world then tend to the needs of Iranians, and therefore it should be of no surprise that roughly three out of four Iranians live either near or under the line of poverty.
Economic sanctions against the Islamic Republic are one of the few non-violent means still available for the Iranian opposition. If the international community is unable to impose sanctions against the Islamic Republic then the only other option left is military confrontation, something the clerical regime finds favorable as it will ultimately lead to Iranians uniting around the regime. The MPG Party will under no circumstances agree to foreign military intervention against our motherland. We therefore support economic sanctions as an effective tool in weakening the theocratic government that currently occupies Iran.
MPG believes that financially destabilizing the Islamic Republic, which currently has monopolized almost all facets of Iran’s economy through organizations such as the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps, is one of the best means to fight this inhumane regime. These regime organizations have to date channeled billions of dollars on repressive instruments inside the country and have carried out terrorist activities across the globe. Cutting off this cash flow and disrupting this terrorist-supporting monopoly is the first step in overthrowing this Jihadist government.
In the spirit of preserving Iran’s national interest, global peace and security, the MPG Party served as the impetus for Assemblyman Joel Anderson’s (R- El Cajon) Bill 221 to divest California’s public retirement funds from businesses that invest in the Islamic Republic. The MPG party was a pivotal advocate of the bill through its passage by the California State Assembly June 5, 2007.
The MPG Party expects that the divestment bill will be implemented without delay, giving priority to the largest companies and investment ventures that indirectly help strengthen the Islamic Republic. The following is a partial list of United States and international companies conducting large scale business in Iran:
Total (France)
Royal Dutch Shell (Dutch)
Repsol (Spain)
ENI (Italy)
INPEX (Japan)
Oil and Natural Gas Company, ONGC, Indian Oil Corporation (IOC)
Oil India Ltd (OIL)
Petronas (Malaysia)
Petrobras (Brazil)
GS Holding Corp (South Korea)
Norsk Hydro (Norway)
Bow Valley Energy Ltd. (Canada)
China National Petroleum Corp. (China)
Sheer Energy (Canada)
Gazprom (Russia)
Lukoil (Russia)
GVA Consultants (Sweden)
OMV (Austria)
ENAP (Chile)
Down with the Islamic Republic
Long Live Iran
Compiled by the Foreign Policy Council of the Marze Por Gohar Party
Jun 9, 2007 - 11:37 pm 4. Fred Beloit:I understand your position and passion, Roozbeh, but in our system of government the state of California really has no business deciding to invest its citizens’ retirement funds based on emotional foreign policy, in my opinion. I am with you in wanting to rid Iran of despotism. However, if I were a Californian working for the State, I would be very angry for the political grandstanding of the state’s leading politicians. What next, investing based on carbon emissions?
Jun 10, 2007 - 10:24 am 5. Lina Cummings:The problem with extreme ideological purity, Fred Beloit, is that it makes you blind. This isn’t about carbon emissions. This is about murder and jihad. Investing in Iran is like investing in Nazi Germany. The mullahs have women raped in prison before they are killed. Or maybe you are unaware. Shame on you.
(as if the California State Assembly were about to do something like this every day… please)
Jun 10, 2007 - 11:06 am 6. Firouzeh:I am delighted of California’s action against the IRI and I am praud of oppositions like Roozbeh Farahani and Ardeshir Arian. We should follow this act through all the states in Us and further to EU members.We should continue our fight against IRI and defeat her opologists around the world.
Jun 10, 2007 - 2:59 pm