Iranian President Hassan Rouhani has ordered the implementation of a new bill that will prohibit the purchase and use of any form of technology developed in Israel.
Using Israeli software platforms, products, and hardware constitutes “cooperation or spying for the Zionist regime” that is “equal to enmity towards God and corruption on earth,” Seyed Hossein Naqavi Hosseini, Iran parliament’s National Security and Foreign Policy Commissioner said to Fars News Agency.
Depending on how strictly the law will be interpreted, Iran could be set back by decades. Israeli Intel chips/technologies found in most computers and universal search engines and smart phone applications will now be under the microscope.
Even cloud storage will come under scrutiny due to its Israeli roots. Iranians could be forced to hand over their cell phones, computers and even their cars.
The Guardian Council, the agency responsible for ensuring legislation is consistent with the tenants of Islam as well as the Constitution, approved the contents of the bill.
It was then unanimously approved by the Iranian parliament.
Beyond personal devices, Iran will have to reevaluate international banking, because some banks have bought Israeli companies or are currently using Israeli cyber technology.
Freight shipping companies, oil refineries, and even medical devices are linked to technology derived in Israel, which could all now be prohibited under this new ban.
Israeli companies will no longer be allowed to transfer goods through Iranian territory, and Israeli nationals and firms within Iran will be banned from using them.
“Like their shooting down of a civilian plane in their own airspace in response to the U.S. taking out their top general (Qassem Soleimani), Iran’s action is a pathetic own goal that mostly reveals their weakness,” said Eugene Kontorovich, Professor at George Mason University Antonin Scalia Law School and Director of its Center for International Law in the Middle East.
Jonathan Schanzer, Senior Vice President at Foundation for Defense of Democracies, said he can best summarize his reaction in two words: “Good luck.”
“Israeli technology is ubiquitous and crucial for modern life,” Schanzer told The Foreign Desk.
“Iran can willingly live in another century. Or it can utilize Israeli tech. It is not much more complicated than that.”
The bill also requires Iranians to “confront the Zionist regime,” which has allegedly caused “the displacing of the Palestinian people and the occupation” of their land.
The legislation encourages Iranians to push back against Israeli settlement expansions, referred to as “terrorist moves,” and calls for “the establishment of a virtual Embassy in Palestine,” Fars News Agency said.
The timing of this ban is especially curious, given the challenge that the Iran regime has faced in addressing the recent surge in coronavirus cases.
In March, Grand Ayatollah Naser Makarem Shirazi reported that if Israel develops a vaccine for COVID-19, and there is no substitute available, Iranians would be permitted to use it.
Now, under this new law, this might not be the case anymore.
