Divesting From Iran:An Update

Michael Barone has an article about the divestment movement today

The divestment movement has been gaining speed during the past year. In
2006, Missouri State Treasurer Sarah Steelman ordered the Missouri Investment
Trust to divest stock in companies that do business in Iran. The California
Assembly has passed a divestment bill, and it is now before the state Senate;
Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger has promised a major signing ceremony if it passes. A
bill limited to Iran's energy sector has been passed into law in Florida. A
divestment bill has been passed in committee in the Pennsylvania House, and a
divestment resolution was passed by the Georgia Senate. In Louisiana, a bill to
set up a "terror-free international index" has been passed into law. Divestment
bills have been filed in Ohio, New Jersey, Michigan, New York, Massachusetts,
Maryland and Texas.

Many of these bills have met with opposition. Pension fund administrators,
such as those at California's giant CalPERS, have opposed them. They argue that
divesting would cost them money. But the fact is that U.S.-based companies
already are prohibited from doing business in Iran. Firms that do the most
business in Iran are French (Alcatel, BNP Paribas, Total), Italian (ENI), Korean
(Hyundai), Chinese (PetroChina) and Russian (Statoil). The potential losses to
pension funds are almost certainly minimal; a fund can find plenty of
international stocks for its portfolio without touching those who do business in
Iran.

Of course, divesting from any company that does business in Iran is one of the three pillars of my own plan to bring the Iranian government down peacefully, here it is again.

For more information please visit the site divestterror.org. According to this site, the twelve companies with the most Iranian investment are, Alcatel, BNP Paribas, Hyundai, Lundin Petroleum, Oil and Natural Gas Corporation, Total SA, Technip Coflexip, Stolt Nielsen, Statoil ASA, Siemens AG, PetroChina. These companies must be held to account first and foremost. Once investment dries up in Iran the second and third pillars must follow and the government WILL fall peacefully.