This week, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani issued an executive order implementing a new law that bans any cooperation with Israel, including the use of Israeli software and hardware.
The law, which was passed unanimously last week by the Iranian parliament and the Guardian Council, describes any cooperation with Israel as an “act against God”.
The legislation reportedly states that any cooperation or spying for “the Zionist regime” is to be considered “equal to enmity towards God and corruption on earth”, and “activities of the Israeli software platforms in Iran and using its hardware and software products are forbidden”.
An Iranian parliamentary spokesperson said: “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”.
Saul Singer, author of the book “Start-Up Nation: The Story of Israel’s Economic Miracle”, said that if the law is fully implemented it will set Iran back “50 years”, noting that many Fortune 500 companies have critical development centres in Israel.
Israel has the largest number of startups per capita in the world, around one startup per 1,400 people, and the country is home to over 350 research and development (R&D) centres of multinational corporations.
