TEL AVIV – Iranian President Hassan Rouhani on Tuesday issued an executive order for implementation of legislation passed last week for a blanket ban on using Israeli products, including Israeli technology.
The bill “to confront the hostile acts of the Zionist regime against peace and security,” considers any cooperation with Israel an “act against god.”
According to the state-affiliated Fars news agency, the Iranian interior, intelligence, foreign and defense ministries together with the Supreme National Security Council (SNSC) and the Judiciary have been ordered to implement the newly passed law.
Earlier this month, Iran’s National Security and Foreign Policy Commission spokesperson, Seyed Hossein Naqavi Hosseini, said that “any cooperation or spying for the Zionist regime is equal to enmity towards God and corruption on earth.”
“Based on the first article of the bill, all Iranian bodies are required to use the country’s regional and international capacities to confront the Zionist regime’s measures,” he said.
The bill passed unanimously, Fars reported.
Citing Saul Singer, co-author of the book Start-Up Nation: The Story of Israel’s Economic Miracle, the Times of Israel said that if implemented fully, the legislation would set Iran back at least half a century. Computers, the internet and cellphones would no longer be allowed to be used and other areas, including exports and healthcare, would suffer greatly.
According to Singer, Iran would resemble an Amish community in Muslim dress.
An Iran without “Israel inside” Singer said, “would make North Korea look advanced and cosmopolitan. Essentially, Iran would go back to the world of 50 years ago, maybe more. It would look like a huge Amish colony in Muslim garb.”
“It’s endless,” Singer said.
“If you count all the Fortune 500 companies that have critical development centers in Israel — including Siemens, an Iranian favorite, IBM, GE… — there’s not much left. I guess they would have to go back to pen and paper, horses, and home visits by doctors with stethoscopes and World War II-era hospitals.”
Last week, Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei tweeted an antisemitic image portraying a “free” Palestine empty of Jews and featuring a slogan that included the Nazi’s “Final Solution.”