Iran divestment bill introduced

A bill enabling American entities to divest from Iran was introduced in the U.S. Congress. Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) and Reps. Barney Frank (D-Mass.) and Tom Lantos (D-Calif.) introduced the Iran Sanctions Enabling Act of 2007 on Wednesday. The bill would require the U.S. government to publish a list every six months of companies that have an investment of more than $20 million in Iran’s energy sector; authorize state and local governments to divest the assets of their pension funds and other funds under their control from any company on the list; and protect fund managers who divest from companies on this list from lawsuits directed at them by investors who are unhappy with the results. “All Americans can play a role in pressuring companies to cut their ties with the Iranian regime, a state sponsor of terror that is a threat to our allies in the region and international security, as a means of convincing Iran to fundamentally change its policies,” said Obama, who is aiming for the Democratic presidential nomination. Lantos, a Holocaust survivor and chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, said, “This legislation makes use of one of the most successful diplomatic tools available to discourage Iran from developing nuclear weapons: the financial vise.”