Is an Iranian Foreign Ministry Influencer Sitting at a Desk at the Pentagon?

The Department of State has long hid behind “privacy considerations” to avoid disclosing why President Biden’s special adviser on Iran, Robert Malley, was ousted. Now a London-based organization, Iran International, is detailing possible reasons for the adviser’s June suspension. In a report based on what the website says is a trove of thousands of emails in Farsi and English, the website details the activity of a Tehran-backed network that was created in 2014 to promote the Islamic Republic’s message in America and Europe.A similar report was published in cooperation with Iran International by the American-based publication Semafor. Most damningly, the two reports identify three of Mr. Malley’s associates who were members of that influence-peddling network. The three Iranian-Americans named in the two reports are Mr. Malley’s protege and adviser, Ali Vaez; his former aide at the State Department, Dina Esfandiary; and another former State Department official who currently holds a senior position at the Pentagon, Ariane Tabatabai. The three are identified in emails and cross references as members of the Iran Experts Initiative. The Initiative was established by Iranian foreign minister Mohammad Jafar Zarif to promote Tehran’s arguments in the west. Several European counterparts are also named in the reports. “As an Iranian, based on my national and patriotic duty, I have not hesitated to help you in any way,” Mr. Vaez wrote to Mr. Zarif in 2014, according to an email translated from the Farsi by Iran International. “From proposing to Your Excellency a public campaign against the notion of [nuclear] breakout, to assisting your team in preparing reports on practical needs of Iran.” Mr. Vaez reportedly wrote the email to distance himself from an article that was published by a Washington-based think tank he belonged to, the International Crisis Group. Mr. Malley led the ICG’s Mideast program before joining the Obama administration during the negotiations that led to the 2015 nuclear deal known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action. He returned to the think tank as its chief during President Trump’s administration. Mr. Malley rejoined the State Department as top Iran policymaker soon after Mr. Biden’s 2021 inauguration. While he sought to bring his ICG protege, Mr. Vaez, into the team, two unidentified sources told Iran International that Mr. Vaez couldn’t obtain security clearance. Nevertheless, Mr. Malley kept Mr. Vaez as an unofficial adviser.Mr. Vaez’s and Ms. Esfandiary’s current employer, the ICG, said the Iranian government did not direct the research of their staff. In a 26-long thread on X, Mr. Vaez dismissed the two stories as “repeated claims, innuendo, misrepresentation, aimed at attacking individuals, without serious grounds, over and over again. None of it is real, just one hatchet job after the other.”He also characterized Iran International and Semafor as “one of which has a clear agenda and the other with a reporter who’s previously complained about the exact same practices he’s now engaging in.”Ms. Tabatabai has sought advice and input from officials in the Tehran foreign ministry on several occasions, including before a congressional testimony, and after meeting a former Saudi Official, Turki al Faisal. She asked if she should pursue Saudi ties, as well as if she should attend a conference at Israel’s Ben Gurion University. She was advised, per the emails in the latest disclosures, to take the Saudi offer and avoid Israel. The Department of Defense, where Ms. Tabatabai now serves as chief of staff for special operations, said in a statement that she was “thoroughly and properly” vetted for her position. First proposed by an Iranian diplomat in Germany, the influence-peddling network was designed to change the Islamic Republic’s image in the West during the presidency of Hasan Rouhani, who was seen as a moderate in Washington and European capitals.Mr. Zarif, a favorite of Western reporters and credulous policy makers, was, in 2014, present at the first meeting of the group, which took place at Vienna’s Palais Coburg. That later became the venue for the JCPOA talks between Iranian diplomats and their American, Russian, Chinese, French, British, and German counterparts. Before the JCPOA completion and afterwards, members of the Iranian Experts Initiative contributed op-eds and long essays to American and European publications, as well as appearances on television and radio shows and as invitees as “experts” to international conferences. They advocated for a soft line on Iran, and assailed Mr. Trump for exiting the nuclear deal and replacing it with a policy of “maximum pressure.”The Iran International and Semafor reports have made waves in Washington, where until now little Congressional scrutiny was made of Mr. Biden’s Iran policy. The Islamic Republic is now widely recognized as a threshold nuclear state even as apologists whisper siren songs about its peaceable intentions. It is possible that the disclosure of the close ties between Tehran officials could lead to hearings in Congress..However, the toughest Democratic critic of Mr. Biden’s Iran policy, Senator Menendez of New Jersey, has just relinquished his chairmanship of the Foreign Relations Committee and, under indictment over bribery allegations, is being widely pressured to resign.The new reporting “is grounds for immediate investigation by Congress,” a former State Department spokeswoman, Morgan Ortagus, wrote in a statement. “Ali Vaez, the top outside advisor to the White House and State Department on Iran negotiations, was caught swearing allegiance to the Iranian foreign minister over email.”Ms. Ortagus called for an immediate congressional probe and a law enforcement investigation into the scope of Iran’s influence in America. “We cannot permit our enemies to undermine U.S. national security on such an important issue,” she wrote.

Is an Iranian Foreign Ministry Influencer Sitting at a Desk at the Pentagon?

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