Mr. Poizner promised legal action subpoenas, publicity and deadlines to force more than 1,300 insurers under his jurisdiction to divest Iranian investments.

Mr. Poizner said his ongoing probe of insurers Iranian links has so far found that insurance companies licensed to do business in California have admitted to holding "$12 billion in investments in companies that do business with the Iranian energy, nuclear, banking and defense industries."

His announcement noted he had launched his effort six months ago to ensure insurance industry compliance with a new state law that prohibits California insurance companies from investing in countries designated as "state sponsors of terrorism."

He explained that he also wanted to "determine the amount of insurance premium dollars, if any, paid by California consumers that end up invested in companies that do business with the energy, nuclear, banking and defense sectors of the Iranian economy."

Mr. Poizner reported that, independent of the data call revealing the $12 billion investment, his own staff had independently verified at least $6 billion of insurer investments.

"I call upon the insurance industry to do what's right and divest themselves of these investments. If they do not do it voluntarily, I will use every tool at my disposal to force divestment," he promised.

The California Insurance Department, said Mr. Poizner will soon provide a list of companies that are doing business with the Iranian energy, nuclear, banking and defense industries to insurance companies licensed to do business in California.

Many of these companies doing such business, Mr. Poizner said, are based in South America, China, Russia and Europe and include such firms as Siemens, Statoil, Petroleo Brasileiro and Total SA.

He said the list will be created using information from the data call and input from outside consultants and other experts.

At that point, insurance companies will be given 30 days to notify CDI in writing that they will comply with the divestment request and disclose the value of the identified investments. Insurers will be given 90 days to eliminate those holdings from their portfolios.

Companies that do not voluntarily agree to divest will be named on a public that CDI will compile, which will divulge the name and value of their Iran-related investments.

Commissioner Poizner said he also will subpoena high-ranking executives of these insurers to testify under oath and ask them why they believe it is in the interest of California policyholders for their premium dollars to be invested in companies propping up Iran's energy, nuclear, defense and banking sectors.

If after this hearing an insurer still refuses to divest, Commissioner Poizner will take all legal action available to him to effectuate divestment.

"The government of Iran continues its oppressive crackdown against its own people, and thumbs its nose at the international community over its expanding nuclear program," said Commissioner Poizner.

He added, "Iran's ambition to dominate the region under a nuclear umbrella is a very serious threat to this country and to people all over the world. It's just wrong for consumers here in California to find out that their hard-earned money that they pay in insurance premiums are propping up the regime in Iran. We need to do whatever it takes to put maximum pressure on Iran to change its behavior."

He reported that out of 1,327 insurance companies licensed in California and required to respond to the probe, 1,111 have complied, but 216 did not respond at all. Commissioner Poizner will subpoena a representative sample of the non-responders to explain why they ignored this critical data call. That hearing will be held on Jan. 12, 2010 in Los Angeles.

Mr. Poizner originally said in his announcement said that the 10 companies listed as facing a subpoena are Travelers Indemnity Co., PMI Mortgage Insurance Company, Thrivent Financial for Lutherans, Farmington Casualty Company, Old Republic General Insurance Corporation, American Home Assurance Company, Anthem Blue Cross Life and Health Insurance Company, Insurance Company of the West, Medical Insurance Exchange of California and Sequoia Insurance Company.

However, he did not mention Travelers during a press conference he held and Travelers said in a statement that the company "believes it is incompliance with the department of insurances data request and we continue to offer our cooperation with questions they have on this topic. So, no subpoena is necessary.As previously stated in our orginal responses to the department, we hold no Iranian investments."

Mr. Poizner promised to pursue additional actions to ensure that the remaining 206 companies respond to his data call.

According to the California insurance department total indirect Investments reported by Insurance Companies broken down by sector are: banking $6,150 million; defense, $40 million; energy, $3,994 million; nuclear, $147 million; unclassified, $1,803 million.

Reported direct investments in Iran were listed as zero.

Mr. McCarty said his Office of Insurance Regulation currently monitors the prohibition of investments related to terrorists and terrorist support organizations identified by the U.S. Treasury and it is illegal for insurers to invest directly in companies with business operations in the defense, nuclear, petroleum or natural gas, or banking and financial services industries in Iran.

He said the OIR is looking at California's method of examining insurers for investments in companies with operations in Iran, including investments in securities denominated in Iranian currency, "with an eye toward creating a complete and thorough analysis of compliance with state and national laws."