Iranians Will Have to Settle for Pepsi

On Wednesday, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad banned “Zionist companies” by signing an amendment into law. According to Israeli Army Radio, the blacklist mainly consists of “Jewish-owned” American corporations such as Coca-Cola, Nestle, Intel and IBM.

According to Iran’s Press TV, the law will also ban Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting from airing television and radio ads for “Israeli products.”

The amendment is part of a new law enacted in response to the Gaza flotilla called “The Palestinian Support Law” which aims to be a response to allegations that Israel refused goods from entering Gaza during the Turkish flotilla incident.

The companies involved are international, American, Jewish owned or have Israeli branches. The boycott is to be carried out by the Iranian Foreign Ministry.

The law forces multiple government ministries to create committees to classify goods from “Zionist companies” that are available in Iran. The committees will also seek to find the names of heads of the banned corporations so that they can also be blacklisted. The Iranian foreign ministry will also have to create annual reports on how the boycott is making headway.

Ahmadinejad stated that he will push for similar boycotts at international organizations, including the United Nations, the Arab League and the Muslim Forum.

Ynetreported that the amendment is believed to be an indirect way for Iran to lash out at the latest sanctions imposed by the UN Security Council and Western nations due to its nuclear activities. The law is said to be mainly for domestic consumption in order to bolster the Iranian public’s backing of the Palestinians.

The Iranian leader announced the boycott one day after Michael Oren, Israel’s ambassador to the US, said that Iran might counter new American sanctions with terrorist attacks in the Middle East, the Jerusalem Post reported.

Oren said that the outcome will depend on which side can stand firm the longest and that the international community has to do everything it can to implement the new sanctions. He concluded the Iran would likely react to the sanctions by either agreeing to negotiate with world powers or starting a war in the Middle East.