Democrats are slamming local Republican congressmen Bob Turner and Michael Grimm for voting to allow an Iran-affiliated mining company to purchase a stake in the largest U.S. mining company.
The bill swaps public lands in Arizona with lands owned by Resolution Copper, a subsidiary of Rio Tinto, one of the world’s largest mining companies. Rio Tinto partners with Iran on a mining operation in Nambia, even though under current sanctions American companies are forbidden from doing business with Iran.
“Congressmen Grimm and Turner are putting partisan politics ahead of global security and the safety of Israel,” said Josh Schwerin, a spokesman for the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee. “Just weeks after an Iranian-backed plot on American soil was stopped, Congressmen Grimm and Turner voted to reward the Iranian regime’s business partner. This sends the wrong message to our allies in Israel and the global community.”
News of the vote has been making the rounds in the Jewish blogosphere.
Republicans have said that the bill would create jobs. The company are argued that their interest in the mine predates the Islamic takeover of Iran.
Yesterday, Assembly Speaker Shelly Silver proposed a bill that would be a state-version of the federal Iran sanctions, prohibiting companies that do business with Iran from doing business with the state or local municipalities.
