As the U.S. probes Iran’s compliance with American sanctions, and with the threat of U.N. action, some of the world’s largest finance and energy companies are cutting ties with Iran. European businesses were especially turned off by President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s comments this past fall questioning whether the Holocaust occurred and calling for the destruction of Israel. The Wall Street Journal quoted UGA sociology professor Mike Beck: “That hurt them in Europe incredibly,” he said. “There are real financial and economic consequences for those kinds of actions, and this illustrates that.”
