Reuters – Companies and individuals that invest in Iran’s energy sector would be barred from doing business with New York state and its municipalities under a bill proposed by the state Assembly speaker.
Democratic Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver said “the prohibition is necessary because of Iran’s role in state-sponsored terrorism, pursuit of nuclear weapons and threat to world peace,” according to a copy of his schedule.
The bill, which Silver plans to unveil on Thursday, is modeled after a similar proposal in California.
If enacted by New York, the Office of General Services would have to review 50 companies that California has identified as possibly qualifying for such a curb.
That list of companies includes heavyweight public and national firms: Broken Hill Proprietary Billiton, China National Petroleum Corp, Hyundai Motor Co , Hyundai Heavy Industries , Indian Oil Corp , LUKOIL , Norsk Hydro ASA , Petroleos de Venezuela, Sinopec Corp , and Total SA .
Spokesmen for Democratic Governor Andrew Cuomo and Republican Senate Majority Leader Dean Skelos had no immediate comment.