WEBVTT - Senator Lieberman Advises Against Any Business With Iran(Audio) 0:00:03.160 --> 0:00:06.560 Global business News twenty four hours a day. If Bloomberg 0:00:06.600 --> 0:00:09.680 dot Com, the radio plus Global lapp and on your radio. 0:00:09.960 --> 0:00:13.920 This is a Bloomberg Business Flash from Bloomberg World Headquarters. 0:00:13.960 --> 0:00:16.599 I'm Katherine Cowdery, the smp f I funded as he 0:00:16.720 --> 0:00:20.239 raised earlier losses. Resource producers are rallying, along with prices 0:00:20.280 --> 0:00:23.480 for medals ranging from gold to copper. The Benchmark index 0:00:23.520 --> 0:00:25.599 has fallen one point two percent this week. It's set 0:00:25.640 --> 0:00:28.400 for its first back to back weekly retreat in three months. 0:00:28.720 --> 0:00:31.520 Treasuries are falling and the dollar weakened against the yan. 0:00:31.600 --> 0:00:34.840 A slowdown in jobs growth, coupled with accelerating wage gains 0:00:35.040 --> 0:00:37.239 has done little to alter views on the timing for 0:00:37.320 --> 0:00:40.200 higher interest rates. We took the markets every fifteen minutes 0:00:40.200 --> 0:00:42.760 throughout the trading day down Industrial leverage is currently up 0:00:42.840 --> 0:00:45.640 seventy eight points four tents of a percent, trading at 0:00:45.640 --> 0:00:48.920 seventeen thousand, seven hundred thirty seven. Smp f I funded 0:00:48.960 --> 0:00:51.040 up six points three tents of a percent, trading at 0:00:51.080 --> 0:00:53.880 two thousand fifty six, and as ZAC is up thirteen 0:00:53.920 --> 0:00:56.720 points a quarter percent. It's trading at forty seven twenty nine. 0:00:57.040 --> 0:00:59.600 West Texas Intermediate Crude oil up twenty two cents of 0:00:59.640 --> 0:01:03.000 barrel half a percent at fifty four spot gold up 0:01:03.000 --> 0:01:06.120 seventeen dollars seventy cents announced at twelve ninety Eden, and 0:01:06.200 --> 0:01:08.880 the tenure treasury is down nine seconds with the yield 0:01:08.880 --> 0:01:13.000 of one point seven And that's the Bloomberg Business flash 0:01:13.760 --> 0:01:16.800 you're listening to. Taking staff with Kathleen Hayes and Pim 0:01:16.880 --> 0:01:21.080 Box on Bloomberg Radio. The Central banks of India and 0:01:21.200 --> 0:01:24.560 Iran they have reached an agreement to use European banks 0:01:24.600 --> 0:01:29.479 in order the process pending oil payments to Tehran, unlocking 0:01:29.520 --> 0:01:34.120 about six and a half billion dollars installed funds. Our 0:01:34.160 --> 0:01:37.120 next guest has a thing or two about Iran. His 0:01:37.280 --> 0:01:41.559 name is Senator Joseph Lieberman. Senator Lieberman is a former 0:01:41.760 --> 0:01:44.959 U S Senator from Connecticut. He was also the Democratic 0:01:45.000 --> 0:01:47.960 Party nominee for Vice President in the two thousand election. 0:01:48.040 --> 0:01:51.000 He also served as chair of the Senate Homeland Security 0:01:51.040 --> 0:01:54.920 Committee from two thousand and seven until twenty thirteen. And 0:01:54.960 --> 0:01:59.040 he is the chairman of United Against Nuclear Iran. And 0:01:59.080 --> 0:02:01.400 he joins us now. Senator Lieberman, thank you very much 0:02:01.400 --> 0:02:04.000 for being with us. Glad to be with you, Pim, 0:02:04.040 --> 0:02:08.240 thank you. Tell US about United Against Nuclear Iran. What 0:02:08.480 --> 0:02:12.440 is this organization? Right? United Against Nuclear Iran is not 0:02:12.680 --> 0:02:15.400 the new organization. It was formed seven or eight years 0:02:15.400 --> 0:02:20.760 ago by an impressive group of diplomats including the late 0:02:21.520 --> 0:02:26.440 Richard Holbrook, Investador Holbrook, Dennis Ross, Jim Wolsey was director 0:02:26.480 --> 0:02:29.280 of the CIA under President Clinton, and Mark Wallace, who 0:02:29.360 --> 0:02:32.840 was in the U n A delegation under President Bush. 0:02:32.919 --> 0:02:35.840 And at that point, the purpose and still is was 0:02:35.960 --> 0:02:40.800 to stop Iran from becoming a nuclear power. And now 0:02:40.840 --> 0:02:46.720 we're focused post around nuclear agreement on really sank to 0:02:46.760 --> 0:02:52.959 the business community. That agreement doesn't mean that it's it's 0:02:53.120 --> 0:02:55.919 risk less to start doing business with Iran or it's 0:02:55.960 --> 0:02:59.840 open season to do business with Iran. It's loaded with risk, 0:03:00.760 --> 0:03:06.160 first because there are still sanctions against Irun for terrorism, 0:03:06.240 --> 0:03:13.320 for violation of human rights where it's Islamic guard cores, 0:03:13.880 --> 0:03:18.200 and the the second is there's reputational risk. This is 0:03:18.240 --> 0:03:21.800 still the largest state sponsor, a most significant state sponsor 0:03:21.840 --> 0:03:27.320 of terrorism now expanding throughout the region, and a tremendous 0:03:27.360 --> 0:03:32.120 suppressor of women's rights, gay rights, political freedom, journalist freedom, etcetera. 0:03:32.240 --> 0:03:37.120 So we're basically focused on businesses in America. And throughout 0:03:37.120 --> 0:03:41.800 the world and saying, uh, don't do business with Iran yet, 0:03:41.960 --> 0:03:44.400 it's too early and it's too risky for you and 0:03:44.520 --> 0:03:48.560 your stockholders. Having said that, the Senator, I'm wondering if 0:03:48.560 --> 0:03:52.040 you could just offer a little detail about why is 0:03:52.080 --> 0:03:56.000 it that you're targeting companies And don't you believe that 0:03:56.040 --> 0:03:59.400 the companies themselves have the wherewithal to do the research 0:03:59.480 --> 0:04:03.160 necessary for whether they want to do business with Iran. Yeah, 0:04:03.200 --> 0:04:09.640 that's a great question. So uh in some cases maybe not. Um. Uh, 0:04:09.800 --> 0:04:13.120 you know, there's been a general reaction in some places. 0:04:13.400 --> 0:04:18.719 Uh there on nuclear agreement has been signed. Its open season. 0:04:18.839 --> 0:04:23.520 Time to go rushing back into Iran to do business. 0:04:23.640 --> 0:04:26.760 But the the Iran Nuclear Agreement, if I can put 0:04:26.760 --> 0:04:30.160 it this way, it was transactional. It was limited to 0:04:30.480 --> 0:04:35.000 the nuclear weapons program. It was not transformational about Iran. 0:04:35.279 --> 0:04:40.440 Ramant Iran remains terrorist state, remains from a terrible suppressor 0:04:40.480 --> 0:04:46.200 of human rights, and remains of a verbal open declared 0:04:46.360 --> 0:04:50.920 enemy of the United States of America. Also, those sanctions 0:04:50.920 --> 0:04:55.320 are on and uh, if you do business with an organism, 0:04:55.320 --> 0:04:57.719 a company in Iran, you may well be doing business 0:04:57.760 --> 0:05:00.040 with the I r g C. The The Star a 0:05:00.279 --> 0:05:03.360 military group that has great economic power, and if you are, 0:05:03.520 --> 0:05:07.839 you're subject to sanctions, to losing access to the US 0:05:08.760 --> 0:05:14.200 banking system, and we're just asking businesses to ask themselves 0:05:14.200 --> 0:05:17.159 whether it's worth it. Frankly, we're also saying to them 0:05:17.279 --> 0:05:21.160 that there are people out here like us who are 0:05:21.200 --> 0:05:24.479 still who still feel Iran is of the number one 0:05:25.080 --> 0:05:29.240 threat to not only American security, but but regional and 0:05:29.360 --> 0:05:32.800 world security. And if you're going to do business with them, 0:05:32.800 --> 0:05:37.239 you're going to be supporting this extremist regime. UH, and 0:05:37.640 --> 0:05:41.680 that's ultimately going to create a backlash perhaps among our 0:05:41.720 --> 0:05:45.760 company's customers. UM, So you're trying to make a political 0:05:45.839 --> 0:05:48.880 point or you're trying to make a business point what 0:05:49.040 --> 0:05:50.960 we're doing both. I mean, we're saying, on the on 0:05:51.040 --> 0:05:56.840 the continuing existence of the sanctions, that you better look 0:05:56.880 --> 0:06:00.200 twice at the law before you think that it's it's 0:06:00.200 --> 0:06:05.040 without risk of legal consequence or without risk of compromising 0:06:05.120 --> 0:06:08.920 your access to the American banking system and markets for 0:06:08.920 --> 0:06:12.680 you to do business and uh Iran, we're also saying 0:06:12.720 --> 0:06:18.360 there's reputational risk that ultimately Iran has given no indication 0:06:18.480 --> 0:06:22.120 of moderating its behavior since Iran nuclear agreement and effect. 0:06:22.160 --> 0:06:25.719 Just last weekend, again the Supreme Leader I have told 0:06:25.720 --> 0:06:28.600 a common I declared that the United States is the 0:06:28.720 --> 0:06:33.840 number one enemy of Iran and a kind of irreconcilable 0:06:34.760 --> 0:06:37.720 UH enemies. So I guess what I'm trying to understand, 0:06:37.800 --> 0:06:40.960 center is why do they need Why do US companies 0:06:41.120 --> 0:06:45.279 need an organization like United Against Nuclear Iran to tell 0:06:45.320 --> 0:06:47.560 them exactly what you just said. I mean, I would 0:06:47.600 --> 0:06:49.560 assume that they would need the headlines and they would 0:06:49.560 --> 0:06:53.440 do their own due diligence. Well maybe not. Maybe they 0:06:53.480 --> 0:06:56.960 think they can get away with it, but I'll tell you, 0:06:57.080 --> 0:07:00.160 or are not run to follow the other sanctions, I'll 0:07:00.160 --> 0:07:02.640 say you something. What we're trying to do is to 0:07:02.720 --> 0:07:07.280 shine a light, and frankly, we're also saying implicitly, if 0:07:07.279 --> 0:07:11.880 not explicitly, to companies if you're We do this with 0:07:12.040 --> 0:07:16.480 letters to the companies, with appearances at UH different business 0:07:16.560 --> 0:07:19.960 meetings that are dealing with bringing people to Iran to 0:07:20.120 --> 0:07:24.880 do business, where we were represented by the former Italian 0:07:25.400 --> 0:07:29.280 foreign minister Julio Tears at a meeting in Zurich just 0:07:29.360 --> 0:07:33.400 this past week of the European Iran Form and part 0:07:33.440 --> 0:07:35.960 of it is just to say that the lights are 0:07:36.000 --> 0:07:38.960 still on Iran, and if you do business there, the 0:07:39.040 --> 0:07:43.000 lights maybe on you. That'll be bad for your reputation, 0:07:43.120 --> 0:07:46.560 and at some point may actually close economic consequences for 0:07:46.640 --> 0:07:50.360 you from your consumers who would not customers who would 0:07:50.400 --> 0:07:54.120 not want to feel that they were buying from a 0:07:54.160 --> 0:08:00.960 company that was economically supporting a terrorist anti America and regime. 0:08:01.640 --> 0:08:05.280 Just looking at the list of signatories to your letter, 0:08:05.880 --> 0:08:09.000 destriving these possibilities just because how come there are no 0:08:09.720 --> 0:08:14.840 business executives, Well, it's a good question. Maybe the next 0:08:14.840 --> 0:08:17.400 ste are we will, I mean, since it's founding and 0:08:17.440 --> 0:08:24.040 you could hear this from the names I mentioned, Holbrook, Wolsey, Ross, Wallace, etcetera. 0:08:24.160 --> 0:08:30.440 And these were former, uh, public servants, former diplomats, etcetera. 0:08:30.720 --> 0:08:34.720 People really familiar with the state of negotiations with Iran 0:08:34.920 --> 0:08:39.480 and with the with the sanctions law, and and UH 0:08:39.720 --> 0:08:42.720 we've had some business people expressed support for what we're doing, 0:08:42.760 --> 0:08:46.000 and I hope we have more. I mean, we we 0:08:46.040 --> 0:08:51.360 haven't hesitated to go really directly to some great companies 0:08:51.400 --> 0:08:55.440 like ge or Siemens, Fiat Christs or Bombadeer Maraths are 0:08:55.520 --> 0:09:00.000 companies that have indicated that they may be thinking about 0:09:00.120 --> 0:09:03.440 doing business with Iran, and honestly, we want them to 0:09:03.480 --> 0:09:08.800 know the risks. Uh. This is a still a country 0:09:08.840 --> 0:09:12.280 that has declared under the Patriot Act to be a 0:09:12.280 --> 0:09:19.199 a money laundering operation and subject to legal penalties for 0:09:19.200 --> 0:09:24.040 for doing business with it. Let's talk about some other names. 0:09:24.120 --> 0:09:27.360 I'm going to give you two and a half a 0:09:27.400 --> 0:09:33.440 minute or so to comment on each. Donald Trump, Oh, 0:09:33.480 --> 0:09:36.400 Donald Trump, big surprise of the year. I didn't see 0:09:36.400 --> 0:09:41.240 it coming obviously in a primary though, though it's only 0:09:41.280 --> 0:09:43.800 a minority of voters. Of what primaries are both parties, 0:09:43.840 --> 0:09:47.040 probably about ten overall of the voters in the in 0:09:47.120 --> 0:09:51.199 the country. Um, they're saying something which is there the 0:09:51.280 --> 0:09:56.000 voters are by supporting Trump, They're they're furious at the 0:09:56.120 --> 0:10:00.240 status quo and they want something different. And I guess 0:10:00.280 --> 0:10:04.080 i'd say, uh, none of us should underestimate him because 0:10:04.240 --> 0:10:06.600 he's come a lot further than any of us study 0:10:06.679 --> 0:10:12.680 ever would Hillary Clinton, she's very experienced and or for 0:10:12.720 --> 0:10:17.360 a long time. Uh, and Uh, I guess you'd have 0:10:17.400 --> 0:10:20.720 to say she's the favorite going into the fall election. 0:10:20.880 --> 0:10:24.800 But if if there was a supporting word, I'm not 0:10:24.840 --> 0:10:28.200 supporting either. I've been involved in another organization called No Labels, 0:10:28.240 --> 0:10:32.400 which is in China, believe or not. Idealistically, so I 0:10:32.400 --> 0:10:36.800 would say naively trying to create incentives for bipartisan cooperation 0:10:36.880 --> 0:10:39.400 in Washington. So I'm gonna wait a while, probably through 0:10:39.400 --> 0:10:43.200 the national conventions. I mean, the big challenge to Hillary 0:10:43.280 --> 0:10:47.000 Clinton is that that she has exactly the experience, the 0:10:47.160 --> 0:10:50.439 qualiser to be president, which is to say, she may 0:10:50.440 --> 0:10:53.200 be seen as an insider in a year when the 0:10:53.240 --> 0:10:59.160 public clearly wants change, and Trump is certainly, among other things, 0:10:59.160 --> 0:11:03.240 an outsider. So thank you very much. As Senator Joe Lieberman, 0:11:03.640 --> 0:11:08.559 he is the chairman of United Against Nuclear Iran, the 0:11:08.679 --> 0:11:12.400 former senator from Connecticut. You're listening to taking Stock on 0:11:12.480 --> 0:11:13.320 Bloomberg Radio.