The Iranian Regime's Lobby in US and the Israeli Decoy

The Iranian Regime's Lobby in US and the Israeli Decoy

Published by: American Thinker

President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, addressing the Qods Day (Jerusalem Day) celebration, which was commemorated on October 5 in Iran, suggested the settlement of Israeli Jews in big lands like Alaska or Canada. Evidently, the more the Iranian regime is confronted with international pressure over its nuclear program or meddling in Iraqi affairs, the more inflammatory its anti-Israeli rhetoric becomes.

Tehran's theocratic dictators have several motives for their persistent threats against Israel, least of which is concern for Palestinians. As part of their fundamentalist expansionist ideology, the Iranian regime wishes to present itself as the leader of the Islamic world and Middle East. Therefore, clerics capitalize on regional, nationalistic, and religious sentiments. Iran also uses Israel alongside the United States as a scarecrow to justify its ill intentions behind meddling in neighboring countries. Internally, Iran uses Israel and the US as a decoy to distract attention from the widespread poverty and suppression, while expending huge sums for armed forces to maintain its grip on dictatorship.

"The Iranian regime has always tried to frame its confrontation with International community and its own people, as a battle between Iran and Israel". This strategic campaign is the most visible in the US where Mullahs' advocacy organizations have followed suit and repeated the same arguments, of course dressed up to fit within the boundaries of local laws and customs .

The Iranian lobby in US

In 1999, Trita Parsi, a young Iranian-Swedish living in Stockholm and Siamak Namazi, residing in Tehran, wrote a joint paper entitled "Iranian-Americans: The bridge between two nations" at a conference organized by the Iranian regime in Cypress.1 The authors argued, "An Iranian-American lobby is needed in order to create a balance between the competing Middle Eastern lobbies. Without it, Iran-bashing may become popular in Congress again." The "competing lobby" was AIPAC (American Israeli Public Affairs Committee). In this paper, Parsi and Namazi demonstrated an astonishing level of knowledge about how this organization functions. They proposed a roadmap for mimicking AIPAC in order to establish an Iranian Lobby in the US.

Namazi is a member of Iranian regime's inner circle and his firm is in tight cooperation with the government, especially within the oil sector. 2

Both Parsi and Namazi have been involved in reciting Tehran's anti-Israeli propaganda abroad, toned down of course for obvious cultural and legal reasons. In his first political statement in 1997, Parsi pointed to AIPAC as one of the main reasons for the US sanctions and animosities towards Iran. 3 Similarly, his partner Siamak Namazi wrote a paper in 1998 and appealed to the Iranian Diaspora to create a lobby in the US. He wrote:4

"We need to get involved and for the time being the government in Iran is even encouraging such a development, albeit not always harmoniously... I propose that we should start showing up to the leadership training seminars and other events organized by the American-Israeli Political Action Committee (AIPAC) for their youth. Not only will this create an opportunity to learn the fine skills of community organization and grassroots lobbying, but it also takes away from AIPAC's ability to spread misinformation about Iran through a deliberate campaign to further its own political agenda."

Two years after their Iran lobby roadmap paper, Parsi came to the US and became congressman Bob Ney's assistant. In April 2002, assisted by Ney and two Washington lobbyists, he founded the National Iranian American Council (NIAC). 2 Ney, a former congressman from Ohio, is currently serving prison time. His indictment was partly related to his affair with two international arms dealers hired by the Iranian regime. 5

On several occasions, the Iranian authorities have publicly portrayed NIAC as the Iranian regime's lobby in US. For example, on December 28, 2006 the state-run newspaper, Aftab, in Iran published an interview with Parsi. In his introduction, the editor underlined the role of Parsi's lobby on behalf of the Iranian regime. Next to Parsi's photo, the article's title is indeed telling: "The Iranian Lobby Becomes Active." 6

On September 19, 2006, the head of the Iran Interest section in Washington, Ambassador Faramarze Fathnejad thrilled about Parsi's efforts underlined "the importance of relationship between the Iranian regime and Iranian-American organizations in the U.S. He especially pointed to "NIAC and its young leader who is a consultant to CNN and has been very successful in his activities". 7

Sadegh Kharazi, the senior Iranian diplomat under Rafsanjani and Khatami, conducted the pro-Iranian regime's activities in US for six years (1989-1995). Kharazi was the man behind the 2003 grand bargain initiative; he gave a very interesting interview to Shargh newspaper on May 28, 2006.

During the interview, he clearly admitted the existence of an Iranian lobby in US and urged the authorities to support this lobby more actively. He pointed to Parsi's nationalistic efforts in the US and explained that the Iranian lobby in US should remain non-governmental. "The authorities should help and direct this lobby," Kharazi urged.

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