IRAN ISSUES BLACKLIST OF "ZIONIST FIRMS"

Iran issues blacklist of 'Zionist firms' (JPost)
In an effort to increase economic pressure on Israel, the Iranian government has published a blacklist barring trade with international companies that are said to be "affiliated to the Zionist regime and Israeli stockholders."

Speaking to the Iranian parliament on Sunday, Foreign Minister Manoucher Mottaki told deputies that Teheran was committed to bolstering an international Islamic embargo against the Jewish state. "Imposing sanctions on Israeli companies or firms in association with the illegal Zionist regime's interests is a legal responsibility and duty," Mottaki said, according to a report by the state-run Iranian news agency IRNA.

According to the report, which also appears on the Iranian Foreign Ministry's Web site, Mottaki presented parliamentarians with several booklets that had recently been published by his ministry in an attempt to single out corporations with whom Iran and Muslims worldwide should have no commercial or economic dealings.

Citing Article 8 of legislation entitled "Support for the Islamic Revolution of the Palestinian People," Mottaki said that Iranian law "bans economic relations with any company, institution or firm affiliated with the Zionist regime anywhere in the world."

He added that the Iranian Foreign Ministry had recently taken various steps "inside and outside the country to prevent patronage of Israeli goods," and that it was working on the issue with other member states of the Organization of the Islamic Conference.

Mottaki also said that Iranian diplomatic missions "in various countries, particularly Lebanon, Syria, New York and European capitals" were making a concerted effort "to publicize Israeli companies or those affiliated to the regime." This, he said, was consistent with Iran's "clear and firm stance on the Zionist regime's policies and its opposition to the regime."