“When we run a campaign, companies come squealing…”

Sept. 22 (Bloomberg) — A group co-founded by two of President Barack Obama’s Middle East advisers is pressuring corporations to abandon business with Iran as the U.S. prepares for talks aimed at keeping the country from developing nuclear weapons.

[…] “United Against Nuclear Iran seeks to increase economic pressure by withholding U.S. government contracts, financial aid, or other funds from companies that have business with Iran.” […]

[…] “When we run a campaign, companies come squealing,” said the group’s president, Mark Wallace. “I’m not out to get these companies, we just want them to change their behavior.” […] more here…

Ein Buch der Analyse und Prophezeiung: „Under a Mushroom Cloud: Europe, Iran and the Bomb“ von Emanuele Ottolenghi

Barbara Kelley / WSJ

WSJ, By BENJAMIN WEINTHAL — The dearth of academics, journalists and policy makers focusing on the dangers of European-Iranian economic relations puts Emanuele Ottolenghi in a lonely place—but all the more significant for that.

In „Under a Mushroom Cloud: Europe, Iran and the Bomb,“ Mr. Ottolenghi not only lays out the scope of Iran’s military aims, but reveals Tehran’s codependence with European industry and provides concrete prescriptions for how continental leaders can stop Iran from developing a nuclear bomb.

To appreciate the depth of Mr. Ottolenghi’s analysis, consider that he wrote his book before the June 12 Iranian election and the turbulence that followed.

He correctly identifies Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei as the „last word“ in Iran, and captures what should now be common knowledge: that „a country that treats its citizens brutally and threatens its neighbors cannot be trusted with nuclear weapons.“

But even in the wake of Mr. Khamenei’s bloody crackdown, European trade with Iran is a topic one dares not broach in Rome or Berlin when discussing how to bring Iran to its knees.