{"id":18776,"date":"2020-01-18T17:41:57","date_gmt":"2020-01-18T22:41:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.irandemocratic.org\/public_html\/news\/?p=18776"},"modified":"2020-01-18T17:41:57","modified_gmt":"2020-01-18T22:41:57","slug":"iranian-regimes-lobby-group-niac-under-scrutiny","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.irandemocratic.org\/public_html\/news\/2020\/01\/18\/iranian-regimes-lobby-group-niac-under-scrutiny\/","title":{"rendered":"Iranian Regime\u2019s Lobby Group NIAC Under Scrutiny"},"content":{"rendered":"

Some Pictures of Members the Iranian Regime\u2019s Lobby Group<\/strong><\/small><\/p>\n

Written by\u00a0Shahriar Kia<\/a>\u00a0on\u00a017 January 2020.<\/p>\n

U.S. SENATORS CALL ON DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE TO INVESTIGATE THE IRANIAN REGIME\u2019S LOBBY GROUP NIAC<\/span><\/b>\u00a0<\/span><\/h2>\n

On January 14, 2020, three U.S senators, Mike Braun, Ted Cruz, and Tom Cotton called on the U.S. Department of Justice to investigate the\u00a0National Iranian American Council (NIAC)<\/a>, a lobby group of the Iranian regime.<\/span><\/p>\n

On Tuesday<\/span>,<\/span>\u00a0the senators sent a letter to Attorney General William Barr, calling for\u00a0<\/span>an\u00a0<\/span>investigation<\/span>\u00a0into\u00a0<\/span>NIAC and its sister organization, NIAC Action, for potential violations of the Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA).<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

“FARA requires persons acting as agents of foreign principals in a political or quasi-political capacity to make periodic public disclosure of their relationship with the foreign principal, as well as activities, to refrain from certain types of speech; rather, it helps guarantee transparency and accountability receipts, and disbursements in support of those activities. FARA does not compel any American in our political system<\/span>,<\/span>”\u00a0<\/span>the s<\/span>enators<\/span>\u2019<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>letter\u00a0<\/span>said.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cNIAC’s innocuous public branding masks troubling behavior. For example, on December 31, NIAC circulated an email memorandum blaming the United States government for Iranian-backed militias’ repeated attacks against U.S. forces in IRAQ and brazen attempt to storm the U.S. embassy in Baghdad. On January 9, NIAC and NIAC Action staffers tweeted and retweeted conspiracy theories deflecting blame from the Iranian regime for shooting down a Ukrainian civilian airliner, killing 176 individuals.\u201d<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The senators mention<\/span>ed<\/span>\u00a0the actions of NIAC and its relationship with the Iranian regime:\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThese disturbing actions are only the latest developments of this nature. NIAC’s relationship with the Iranian regime and its role amplifying regime propaganda in the United States have been the subject of discussion in Washington D.C. for years.\u201d\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cDuring the discovery process of a 2008 defamation lawsuit filed by NIAC, it came to light that NIAC’s Swedish-Iranian founder,\u00a0<\/span>Trita<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>Parsi<\/span>, had arranged meetings between\u00a0<\/span>Javad<\/span>\u00a0Zarif, Iran’s former ambassador to the United Nations and current foreign minister, and members of Congress<\/span>.<\/span>\u201d<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWhen presented with this information, former FBI associate deputy director Oliver\u00a0<\/span>Revell<\/span>\u00a0commented that “arranging meetings between members of Congress and Iran’s ambassador to the United Nations would, in my opinion, require that person or entity to register as an agent of a foreign power; in this case, it would be Iran.”<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Oliver\u00a0<\/span>Revell<\/span>\u00a0was\u00a0<\/span>referring\u00a0<\/span>to a meeting between the Iranian regime\u2019s former ambassador to the United Nations and current foreign minister Mohammad\u00a0<\/span>Javad<\/span>\u00a0Zarif and members of Congress in 2008 which was arranged by NIAC’s founder,\u00a0<\/span>Trita<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>Parsi<\/span>.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Additionally, the senators quoted former F.B.I. agents who said NIAC had participated in pro-Iranian regime lobbying.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

“NIAC’s former acting policy director Patrick Disney admitted in internal emails that he and the organization’s legislative director spend more than 20 percent of their time conducting lobbying activities,” the\u00a0<\/span>letter\u00a0<\/span>read.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Trita<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>Parsi<\/span>, the founder of NIAC, has very close relations with senior Iranian regime officials, and NIAC has been the subject of public scrutiny for its efforts to broker meetings between American and Iranian officials.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cAs the Obama administration sought to ink the nuclear accord with Iran, NIAC acted as a central part of what Obama National Security Council official Ben Rhodes described as the administration’s “echo chamber.” A network of Obama administration officials and outside organizations disseminated talking points to reporters that bolstered the case for the deal and downplayed Iran’s sponsorship of regional terror operations,\u201d\u00a0<\/span>r<\/span>eads a piece in\u00a0<\/span>Washington Free Beacon<\/span><\/i><\/a>,<\/span>\u00a0adding:\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cIn recent weeks, NIAC has distributed information condemning the Trump administration’s killing of top Iranian general\u00a0<\/span>Qassem<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>Soleimani<\/span>. Many of these NIAC-sponsored talking points repeated the Iranian regime’s own propaganda regarding the strike, prompting the lawmakers to seek an investigation into potential violations by NIAC of U.S. law.\u201d<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cNIAC was\u202fordered\u202fto pay more than $180,000 in 2013 to the legal defense fund of\u202fHassan\u00a0<\/span>Daioleslam<\/span>, an Iranian-American writer, following a failed defamation lawsuit.\u00a0<\/span>Daioleslam<\/span>\u202faccused\u202fNIAC of failing to disclose its clandestine lobbying efforts to undo sanctions on Tehran, the\u202f<\/span>Free Beacon<\/span><\/i>\u202fpreviously reported<\/span>,<\/span>\u201d\u00a0<\/span>t<\/span>he\u00a0<\/span>article added<\/span>.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\"Images<\/span><\/p>\n

I<\/span><\/span>mages of\u00a0<\/span><\/span>Trita<\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/span>Parsi<\/span><\/span>\u00a0with senior Iranian delegation\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/em>\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\"Trita<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Trita<\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/span>Parsi<\/span><\/span>\u00a0greeting Iran\u2019s delegation in Lausanne during the nuclear negotiations – March 2015<\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

\"Negar<\/span><\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

\"Negar<\/span><\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

\"Negar<\/span><\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

Negar\u00a0<\/span><\/span>Mortazavi<\/span><\/span>, and Mina\u00a0<\/span><\/span>Jafari<\/span><\/span>, NIAC members<\/span><\/span>,<\/span><\/span>\u00a0in pictures with Iranian regime\u2019s Foreign Minister, Mohammad\u00a0<\/span><\/span>Javad<\/span><\/span>\u00a0Zarif.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

Negar\u00a0Mortazavi<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/em><\/span>, and Mina\u00a0<\/span>Jafari<\/span>, NIAC members<\/span>,<\/span>\u00a0in pictures with Iranian regime\u2019s Foreign Minister, Mohammad\u00a0<\/span>Javad<\/span>\u00a0Zarif. It is worth noting that senior Iranian regime officials do not take pictures with people unless they are certain of their utmost loyalty.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

NIAC has been the Iranian regime\u2019s primary outlet in Washington<\/span>.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0NIAC and its founder\u00a0<\/span>Trita<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>Parsi<\/span>\u00a0have direct contacts with the clerical regime in Iran and have acted as the chief deal makers for Tehran in Washington.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

In direct coordination with the Iranian regime and while pursuing a specific policy path,\u00a0<\/span>Parsi<\/span>\u00a0has been attempting to justify the regime\u2019s policies while at the same time urging the doling out of unilateral concessions by the U.S. to the regime, billing it as the only option capable of inducing a change of behavior by Tehran. Part and parcel of this approach has been the dissemination of lies and accusations against the Iranian Resistance and specifically the People\u2019s\u00a0<\/span>Mojahedin<\/span>\u00a0Organization of Iran (PMOI\/MEK).<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Parsi<\/span>\u00a0and NIAC have been trying to cement and buttress Tehran\u2019s propaganda against the organized opposition, portraying them as facts and launching a demonizing campaign against\u00a0<\/span>the MEK. According to NIAC\u2019s propaganda, the Iranian society\u2019s main problem and the main obstacle to change in Iran has been the presence of the opposition MEK<\/span>,<\/span>\u00a0and not the ruling regime in Iran<\/span>.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Background<\/span><\/b>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

In 2002, NIAC was founded by\u00a0<\/span>Parsi<\/span>\u00a0with the help of Bob Ney (the Farsi-speaking former Congressman from Ohio, who was sentenced to 30 months in prison in 2007 for lying and fraud), along with two well-known lobbyists, Roy Coffee and Dave Di Stefano. At the time, as an immigrant from Sweden,\u00a0<\/span>Parsi<\/span>\u00a0started his activities in Washington in Ney\u2019s office. He billed NIAC as an organ that \u201cspeaks for and protects the interests of the Iranian American community\u201d even though he himself did not even have a\u00a0<\/span>G<\/span>reen\u00a0<\/span>C<\/span>ard. According to Coffee,\u00a0<\/span>Parsi<\/span>, Ney, Coffee and Di Stefano worked\u00a0<\/span>nine<\/span>\u00a0months on forming NIAC with the goal of lifting sanctions against the clerical regime.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Trita<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>Parsi<\/span>\u00a0began his pro-Tehran activities in 1997 in Sweden as he founded a small lobby organization called\u202f\u201c<\/span>Iranians for International Cooperation<\/span><\/a>\u201d (IIC) that used to send petitions and letters to Congress members. In an IIC\u202f<\/span>document<\/span><\/a>\u202freleased during a subsequent lawsuit,\u00a0<\/span>Parsi<\/span>\u00a0explained IIC\u2019s activities and goals as follows: \u201cIIC was founded in August 1997 by\u00a0<\/span>Trita<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>Parsi<\/span>, the present President\u2026 Our agenda is topped by the removal of US economic and political sanctions against Iran\u2026 IIC is capable of organizing the grassroots and pressure US lawmakers to pose a more Iran friendly position.\u201d<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

JAVAD<\/span><\/b>\u00a0ZARIF:\u00a0<\/span><\/b>PARSI\u2019S<\/span><\/b>\u00a0MAIN CONTACT IN THE IRANIAN REGIME UNTIL 2007<\/span><\/b>\u00a0<\/span><\/h2>\n

Since the founding\u00a0<\/span>of\u00a0<\/span>his organization,\u00a0<\/span>Parsi<\/span>\u00a0established close contact with\u00a0<\/span>Javad<\/span>\u00a0Zarif, then the Iranian regime\u2019s permanent representative to the UN. In his correspondence with the Iranian regime,\u00a0<\/span>Parsi<\/span>\u00a0continued to show his loyalty to the regime, stressing that he has done his utmost in this regard.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n