Kerry Fund-Raiser Denies Cooperating With Iran
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An Iranian-American businessman who is a top New York fund-raiser for the presidential campaign of Senator Kerry of Massachusetts sharply denounced the Iranian government during a deposition for a libel suit the investor filed over claims by anti-regime activists that he is an agent for Tehran.
During the videotaped session at a Manhattan hotel, Hassan Nemazee was questioned for over an hour about his views toward Iran and his involvement in Mr. Kerry’s campaign, according to attorneys for both sides.
In an interview, a lawyer for Mr. Nemazee, Charles Parker of Dallas, summarized the businessman’s testimony as a broadside against the mullahs in Tehran.
“Mr. Nemazee has had no communication of any type with Iran in any capacity. He believes that Iran is a terrorist regime. He believes that anything that legitimizes the terrorist regime in Iran would be wrong to do. He believes that re-establishing relations with Iran at this time would be wrong,” Mr. Parker said.
“There were questions asked if he had advised the Kerry campaign dealing with anything involving Iran. He has not and will not,” Mr. Parker added.
In March, Mr. Nemazee filed a lawsuit seeking over $10 million in damages from a Texas man, Aryo Pirouznia, and his group, Student Movement Coordination Committee for Democracy in Iran. The Manhattan businessman said he had been smeared by Mr. Pirouznia, who maintains a Web site and e-mail list offering updates on dissident activity in Iran.
The Texas- based activist has said the lawsuit is an effort to intimidate him from publicizing ties he alleges between Mr. Kerry and the Iranian regime.
An attorney for Mr. Pirouznia, Robert Jenevein, said Mr. Nemazee’s testimony yesterday was “cute, but it doesn’t square with his history and his record.”
The activist’s lawyer said Mr. Nemazee has previously advocated restoring relations with Iran and served on the board of a group, the American Iranian Council, that favored such a move. In 2002, Mr. Kerry was an honored guest at a fund-raiser sponsored by the council.
At that event, Mr. Nemazee described the group’s efforts as part of an “attempt to establish the basis and the vehicle for a dialogue, which will ultimately lead to a resumption of relations.”
“Mr. Nemazee practically trips over himself trying to get away with statements he’s made in the past and organizations he’s been affiliated with,” Mr. Jenevein said. “It seemed today that he was trying very hard to pretend those things didn’t happen.”
Mr. Parker said that in 2002, Mr. Nemazee was hopeful about reforms in Iran and believed they might lead in the short-term to a resumption of normal relations. However, the businessman has changed his view.
“Since then, the more radical groups have pushed out elected officials,” Mr. Parker said. He added that there’s “no basis for dialogue anymore.”
During the first presidential debate, Mr. Kerry raised some eyebrows when he said he favored giving nuclear fuel to Iran for use in reactors as part of a test to see if Iran’s intentions for its nuclear program were peaceful.
Mr. Parker said Mr. Nemazee was asked yesterday about the plan and he said he does not believe it is wise.
“You cannot trust this Iranian regime which is in power now. Clearly, they are trying to get whatever might be required for nuclear weapons and they absolutely cannot be trusted,” Mr. Parker said.
Mr. Jenevein said he was startled by that comment.
“Clearly, John Kerry’s number one Iranian-American fund-raiser disagrees with the senator on whether or not we want to give nuclear fuel to Iran,” Mr. Jenevein said.
Mr. Pirouznia has allied himself with committed opponents of Mr. Kerry, including Jerome Corsi, a co-author of an anti-Kerry book, “Unfit for Command.” According to Mr. Parker, Mr. Corsi attended yesterday’s deposition and asked some questions about other investors in Mr. Nemazee’s firm, Nemazee Capital.
Mr. Nemazee described the company as a vehicle for family investments, Mr. Parker said. The businessman has said he has no holdings in Iran, which his family fled when he was a small child.