According to California State Insurance Commissioner, Steve Poizner, California’s measures to apply economic pressure on Iran are providing results. Four international oil industry companies have ceased their operations in Iran.
Earlier in the year, Poizner made and circulated a list of foreign companies doing business with Iran in the areas of finance, energy, nuclear development and defense. Then, he informed California-licensed insurance companies that they could not receive any credit on their financial statements for holdings in any of these 50 companies.
The four companies that ceased operations in Iran and consequently were dropped off of Poizner’s list were Shell International Finance of the Netherlands, Royal Dutch Shell of the Netherlands, Repsol YPF of Spain and Total of France
“The decisions of these companies to cease operations in Iran, offers the clearest indication yet that our anti-Iran Initiative has played an important role in reducing the level of investment in Iran,” explained Poizne. “By leveraging the financial power of the insurance industry, our anti-Iran investment efforts have established a strong incentive for companies to stop doing business in Iran.”