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Oldman
Joined: 01 Feb 2005 Posts: 158 Location: USA
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Posted: Fri Jan 12, 2007 12:38 pm Post subject: EXPOSE NIAC |
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Ba dorood:
This Islamic Rip-off lobby arm in DC must be exposed as what it is.
Many good people have been fooled to join in as they have a very kind heart but do not realize what this organization is set up to do.
The on-going effort by this organization has recently taken a higher level by USING Iranians' kind hearts and anti-war sentiments.
In recent article titled as, "Tell Congress to Stop War with Iran", they seem to ignore the better solution by joining the opposition for a regime change which not saves Iran from any possible war but brings a possibility for prosperity for Iranians.
They conduct polls researching among regime’s supporters even in USA to mislead public and elected officials.
The president of this group worked in Congressman Ney of Ohio or Minnesota (sorry for not being sure as I am using my memory) who is facing us courts for accepting bribes from the infamous American Lobbyist recently convicted to a LONG jail term, Abramof (sp?).
In summary, it is upon every Iranian activist, be it human rights or political, to expose this organization for what they are, ISLAMIC RIP-OFF'S LOBBY ARM in USA.
P.S.
I am not promoting any war on Iran as I am TOO nationalist to accept anything but Iranians involvement for rescuing Iran and that is why I indicated that NIAC should join the opposition. _________________ Ba sepas
Payandeh Iran |
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Oldman
Joined: 01 Feb 2005 Posts: 158 Location: USA
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Posted: Wed Jan 17, 2007 5:42 pm Post subject: |
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Ba dorood:
Bekhaaneed Va Aagaah Shaveed.
گزارش تحقیقی درباره شبکه لابی رژیم ایران در آمریکا
"تریتا پارسی" و "شورای ملی ایرانیان آمریکائی"
تهیه و تنظیم: حسن داعی
hassan.dai@yahoo.com
مقدمه
در سال 2005 "جک آبراموف" یکی از سلاطین لابی درآمریکا به اتهام کلاهبرداری و رشوه تحت تعقیب قضائی قرار گرفت و یکسال بعدازآن، با قبول بخشی از گناهان خویش و ضمن همکاری با مسئولین پرونده روانه زندان گشت. گرفتاری آبراموف سرآغاز یکی از بزرگترین افتضاحات سیاسی-مالی تاریخ آمریکا بود که به ادعای بسیاری ار کارشناسان، تمام سیستم سیاسی آمریکا را تحت تاثیر قرار داده است.
این افتضاح که از مهمترین عوامل شکست جمهوریخواهان در انتخابات مجلسین آمریکا بود قربانیان مهمی نیز داشته است که شناخته ترین آنان "باب (رابرت) نی" Bob Ney نماینده کنگره آمریکا از اوهایو و همکار اصلی آبراموف در اکثر این کلاهبرداری هاست. وی نیز با قبول بخشی از اتهامات وارده بخویش، بزودی روانه زندان خواهد شد. "باب نی" فعال ترین و مهم ترین سیاستمداری است که طی یک دهه بی وقفه برای نزدیکی ایالات متحده به رژیم حاکم برایران تلاش میکرد و بخشی از پرونده کلاهبرداری های وی نیز به رشوه گیری از دلالان وابسته به جمهوری اسلامی مربوط میشود. وی در مدت اقامت خویش در زندان تنها نخواهد بود زیرا تعدادی از همکاران سابق وی نیز بهمین سرنوشت دچار گشته اند. شاید یکی از معدود همکاران باب نی که هنوز گرفتار عدالت نشده باشد "تریتا پارسی" همکار سابق وی است که با استفاده از ارتباطات خویش با شبکه باب نی و همچنین با برخوردای از حمایت های جمهوری اسلامی به راه اندازی تشکیلات وسیعی در آمریکا اقدام نموده است. افتضاح مالی آبراموف درعین حال بخش کوچکی از ارتباطات باب نی و تریتا پارسی با محافل وابسته به رژیم ایران و به تبع آن، شبکه گسترده لابی ایران و شرکتهای بزرگ آمریکا و در راس آن کمپانی های نفتی را برملا نمود.
گزارشی که در ذیل تقدیم هموطنان میشود خلاصه بخش سوم گزارش مفصلی است که برای انتشار به زبان انگلیسی در مراحل پایانی تهیه و تدوین قرار دارد. این گزارش تحقیقی را با همیاری دو نفر از دوستان روزنامه نگار در داخل ایران تهیه کرده ام که بخصوص بخش مربوط به فعالیت های رژیم در میان اپوزیسیون قانونی و گروههای خارج از کشوری، توسط نامبردگان تنظیم گشته است. ازآنجا که مسئله ایران به مشکل شماره یک آمریکا و غرب تبدیل شده، طبیعتا شبکه لابی طرفدار ایران بطور فعال در صحنه حضور یافته است و بخصوص افراد ایرانی که دراین چهارچوب با رژیم حاکم بر کشورمان همکاری میکنند ماموریت و نقش ویژه ای بر عهده دارند. ازاینرو قبل از انتشار انگلیسی گزارش، بخش های اصلی آن به فارسی ترجمه و با اصلاحاتی جزئی در اختیار علاقمندان قرار میگیرد. طبیعتا هرگونه همکاری، انتقاد و راهنمائی مورد استقبال ما قرار میگیرد.
دراین بخش از گزارش، تریتا پارسی و تشکیلات وابسته به او و همچنین شبکه وسیع دیگر سازمانهای موازی با آن را مورد بررسی قرار میدهیم. هدف ازاین گزارش نه شخص "پارسی"، بلکه سیستم پیجیده ای است که بااستفاده از امکانات وسیع رژیم ایران و متحدانش درآمریکا توانسته است فرد گمنامی را درعرض چند سال به یکی از شناخته شده ترین "کارشناسان" مسائل ایران تبدیل کند.
این گزارش بطور کامل براساس اسناد عمومی که در دسترس همگان قرار دارد تهیه گردیده که بنظر نگارنده بخوبی نمایانگر رابطه "پارسی" از یکطرف با آلوده ترین محافل آمریکائی است و از طرف دیگر رابطه منسجم، طولانی و ارگانیک وی با رژیم حاکم بر ایران را آشکار مینماید.
باب نی (Bob Ney) و عشق بی پایان وی به مردم ایران
"باب نی" در سال 1994 به نمایندگی از اوهایو وارد کنگره شد. وی قبل از انقلاب ایران به مدت کوتاهی در شیراز تدریس کرده و زبان فارسی را نیز بخوبی تکلم میکند. وی تا سال 1997 از برخی از گروههای اپوزیسیون علیه رژیم ایران حمایت میکرد ولی با انتخاب خاتمی دراین سال، وی به جرگه طرفداران ایجاد رابطه با رژیم پیوست. در مدتی کوتاه وی به فعال ترین سیاستمدار طرفدار مماشات با ایران تبدیل گشت و در تمام طرحها و ابتکاراتی که دراین زمینه بود وی در صفوف اول قرار داشت. فعالیت های سیاسی باب نی از یکطرف معطوف به بهبود روابط ایران و آمریکا و به تبع آن، لغو تحریم هایی بود که علیه ایران اعمال میشد و از طرف دیگر وی بطور جدی علیه بخشی از نیروهای اپوزیسیون که خواهان سرنگونی کامل رژیم بودند فعالیت مینمود.
طبق سندی که در صفحات بعد بآن اشاره میشود، باب نی در سال 2002 به کمک دو نفر از مهمترین لابیست های آمریکا یعنی "روی کافی" و "دی استفانو"، اقدام به تشکیل "شورای ملی ایرانیان آمریکائی" National Iranian American Council نمود و تریتا پارسی یکی از دستیاران خود را به ریاست آن گماشت. روی کافی در پاسخ به این سوال که چرا سراغ باب نی رفتید گفته است: “نامبرده عشق بی پایانی به مردم ایران دارد که برای همه ما الهام بخش بود”. برای درک این عشق و جایگاه"روی کافی" و دلیل راه اندازی شورای ایرانی-آمریکائی یاد شده، بایستی به پرونده قضائی باب نی و همچنین موقعیت شغلی روی کافی نگاه کنیم.
باب نی در سال 2006 و آشکار شدن نقش وی در افتضاحات مالی آبراموف، از کنگره استعفا داد و برای معالجه الکلیسم که بادعای وی علت اصلی انحرافات وی است روانه درمانگاه گردید. وی در اوائل سال 2007 به زندان میرود و برطبق قراردادی که با دادستانی بسته است بایستی بطور نامحدود برای کشف زوایای پنهان پرونده با مقامات قضائی همکاری کند. بدین ترتیب بایستی در انتظار شگفتی های جدید از فساد مالی وی و همکارانش بود.
گزارش حاضر با بررسی فعالیت های باب نی و تریتا پارسی، در صدد است تا بخش کوچکی از فعالیت های لابی طرفدار ایران در آمریکا و شبکه وسیع این سازمان مافیا گونه را در معرض قضاوت همگان قرار دهد.
رابطه "باب نی" با دو تبهکار بین المللی مربوط به رژیم ایران
یکی از مهمترین بخش های پرونده کلاهبرداری باب نی مربوط به رشوه گیری وی از دو دلال اسلحه ساکن لندن است که در صدد فروش قطعات هواپیما به رژیم ایران بوده اند. این داستان که به تعبیر خبرنگاران بیشتر به فیلم های جیمزباند شبیه است ضمنا شامل تریتا پارسی بطور خاص نیز میشود زیرا درخلال افشاگری های مربوط به رشوه گیری، نحوه راه اندازی شورای وابسته به تریتا پارسی نیز در یک سند منتشر گشته است. خلاصه داستان باب نی به نقل از روزنامه های آمریکا و ادعا نامه وزارت دادگستری به قرار زیر است: (لیست مهمترین منابع مورد استفاده در پایان مقاله حاضر ذکر شده است)
در سال 2003 دو نفر از تجار ساکن لندن و صاحبان شرکت FN Aviation که قصد فروش قطعات هواپیما به ایران را داشتند به سراغ یکی از بزرگترین موسسات لابی آمریکائی میروند تا ضمن تماس با مقامات ذیربط آمریکا برای دریافت اجازه مخصوص یرای صادرات این قطعات به ایران اقدام کنند. تحریم های آمریکا علیه ایران، اجازه این معامله بروال عادی را نمیداد. موسسه لابی O'Connor & Hannan که از گرانترین شرکت های لابی در آمریکاست دو نفر از لابیست های خود بنام روی کافی و همکار وی دی استفانو را برای این کار انتخاب میکند. این انتخاب البته اتفاقی نبود. دی استفانو دستیار سابق باب نی بود که از مدتی پیش وارد فعالیت های لابی گری شده بود. باب نی نیز از مدتها قبل در رابطه با ایران به فعالیت مشغول بود و دراین زمینه تجربه کافی در اختیار داشت.
این دو تاجر لندنی اما تاریخچه جالبی دارند که بخوبی نشانگر روابط بین المللی رژیم نیز هست که بجای رابطه معقول با آمریکا، سراغ چنین موجوداتی میرود که فقط برای خدمت به آخوندها خلق شده اند. نفر اول 68 ساله انگلیسی بنام Nigel Winfield میباشد. وی در سال 1980 بدلیل یک فقره تقلب مالیاتی 7.4 میلیون دلاری در آمریکا به زندان رفت. در سال 1982 بخاطر تلاش هایی که برای کلاهبرداری از الویس پریسلی کرده بود به شش ماه زندان محکوم شد. در طی سالهای دهه 1960 وی هشت بار به تقلب و کلاهبرداری اعتراف کرده بود. در سال 1981 نیز بخاطر رابطه با مافیای نیوجرسی، وی از شرکت دادن اسب هایش در مسابقات اسب سواری ممنوع شد.
تاجر دوم یک سوری بنام Fouad al-Zayat معروف به جک خیکی fat Jack است که با فروش اسلحه ثروتی افسانه ای بهم زده بود. در سال 2002 یک دادگاه لندن بخاطر یک چک برگشتی سه میلیون دلاری از نامبرده مجبور به توقیف جت 727 خصوصی و رولز رویس وی گشت. فواد از سال 99 تا 2001 با 150 مراجعه به قمارخانه های لندن مبلغ 17 میلیون دلار باخته بود.
در فوریه 2003 دو لابیست آمریکائی بهمراه باب نی برای دیدار با این دو تاجر خوشنام، به لندن سفر میکنند و پس از آن نیز یکبار دیگر خود باب نی به تنهائی به دیدار این دو تاجر ایران دوست میرود. در اواسط سال 2003 شرکت لندنی منحل میگردد و بخاطر جنگ آمریکا با عراق، باب نی و دوستان از دنبال کردن پرونده منصرف میگردند. در اینمدت کوتاه باب نی با کالین پاول در زمینه برداشتن تحریم ارسال قطعات هواپیما به ایران نیز دیدار میکند. طبق ارقام منتشره در مرکز لابیست های کنگره، تجار لندنی 220 هزار دلار به روی کافی و 20 هزار دلار به دی استفانو پرداخت کرده اند. از میزان دقیق پرداختی به باب نی هنوز بی خبریم ولی طبق اسناد منتشره توسط وزارت دادگستری و همچنین ارقام مربوط به کمک های مالی به تبلیغات انتخاباتی باب نی، نامبرده دهها هزار دلاربخاطر کمک باین دو دلال دریافت نموده است که یک قلم آن 50000 دلار در بازگشت از سفر دوم وی به لندن است. باب نی درآغاز به مقامات قضائی گفته بود که این پول را بخاطر خوش شانسی در قمار برده بود.
"روی کافی" و "باب نی"، بنیانگذاران "شورای ملی ایرانیان آمریکائی" وابسته به "تریتا پارسی"
Roy Coffee در سال 1994 که جرج بوش کاندیدای فرمانداری تگزاس بود معاونت تبلیغات انتخابانی وی را بعهده داشت. نامبرده تا سال 98 یکی از مستولیت های مهم ایالت تگزاس را بعهده داشت و سپس به شرکت لابی معروف O'Connor & Hannan پیوست. وی که به رابطه نزدیک با خانواده بوش معروف بود در سال 2000 از طرف مجله کنگره بنام Roll Call لقب گوش و چشم بوش در K Street را گرفت. این خیابان محله معروفترین شرکتهای لابی واشنگتن است. کافی در سال 2005 به شرکت لابی Locke Liddell & Sapp پیوست. یکی از صاحبان سابق این شرکت حقوقی خانم Harriet Miers مشاور حقوقی کاخ سفید است که در سال گذشته از طرف پرزیدنت بوش برای عضویت در دیوان عالی آمریکا معرفی گردید.
همکار روی کافی David DiStefano رئیس دفتر سابق باب نی بود که مانند روی کافی در سال 98 وارد جرگه لابیست ها گردید. باب نی از طرف برخی از روزنامه نگاران به فاسدترین نماینده تاریخ کنگره ملقب گردیده است ویکی از مفسران این سوال را مطرح میکند که آیا کاری بوده است که باب نی در مقابل دریافت پول از انجام آن سرباز زند؟ یکی دیگر از خبرنگاران به طنز نوشته است: "بنظر من این باند آبراموف و باب نی حاضرند برای پول به مادر خود نیز بمب اتم بفروشند و بعد ترتیب دستگیری وی را نیز بدهند". حقیقت نیز همین است و نگاهی کوتاه به پرونده وی همین احساس مشمئز کننده را به خواننده منتقل خواهد نمود. او با دریافت صدها هزار دلار رشوه و برخورداری از بهترین امکانات مالی در تمام سخنرانی های خویش برای مردم ایران نیز دلسوزی مینمود. ازجمله کارهای وی و آبراموف، کلاهبرداری میلیونی از قبیله های مختلف سرخپوسنتان آمریکائی است که با سخیف ترین شیوه ها انجام گرفته است. کلاهبردای از سرخپوستان به رقمی بالای 85 میلیون دلار میرسد. یکی از نمونه های معروف کلاهبردای آبراموف به دو قبیله مربوط میشود که هردوی آنان صاحب کازینو بوده و برای همین نیز برای جلب مشتری به قمارخانه های خود باهم رقابت میکردند. آبراموف با دریافت مبالغ هنگفت از قبیله اول ترتیبی داد که با تصویب قوانین مورد نظر در کنگره، کازینوی قبیله رقیب بسته شود. در مرحله بعد، وی سراغ قبیله دوم رفته و برای بازگشائی کازینویی که خودش ترتیب بستن آن را داده بود میلیون ها دلار ازآنان اخاذی کرد.
یکی دیگر از شاهکارهای وی همکاری با آبراموف برای خرید قمارخانه روی کشتی از تاجری در فلوریدا بود. برای جوش دادن این معامله، باب نی با جعل سند مبالغ هنگفتی از آبراموف دریافت کرد. فروشنده این قمارخانه در مقابل آبراموف و شریک وی Kidan مقاومت میکرد ولی سرانجام مجبور به قبول مبلغ پیشنهادی و فروش تجارت خود به آنان شد. چند هفته پس از امضای قرارداد، نامبرده بطرز مشکوکی به قتل رسید. یکی از دستگیر شدگان این جنایت کسی است که با Kidan یعنی شریک آبراموف رابطه داشت و مبلغ 250 هزار دلار از وی دریافت کرده بود.
از دیگر اقدامات باب نی و آبراموف، دادن قرارداد نصب آنتن های تلفن همراه در کنگره آمریکا به یک شرکت اسرائیلی بود. درحالیکه طبق اسناد مورد بررسی توسط مطبوعات آمریکا، یک شرکت مهم آمریکائی شایسته انجام این معامله بود، باب نی درمیانه راه وارد صحنه گردید و قرارداد را به یک شرکت گمنام اسرائیلی داد. طبق اسناد منتشره در مطبوعات، شرکت اسرائیلی نیز صدها هزار دلار به باند آبراموف پرداخت کرد.
دریکی دیگر از کلاهبرداریها، باب نی در مقابل دریافت پول ترتیبی داد که یک شرکت غیر روسی بتواند روی ودکای خود مارک "ساخت روسیه" را بچسباند و همچنین در مقابل دریافت پول به تولید کنندگان لباس در خارج از آمریکا نیز فرصت داد تا مارک ساخت آمریکا را روی محصولات خود بجسبانند.
راه اندازی "شورای ملی ایرانیان آمریکائی"
روی کافی در نامه ای که بتاریخ اول فوریه 2006 به مجله تکزاسی Dmagazin Frontburner فرستاده است نحوه راه اندازی این شورا را بروایت خویش بیان میکند: http://frontburner.dmagazine.com/archives2/013069.html
« در اواسط سال 2002 یکی از همکلاسی های سابق من که یک ایرانی بنام "داریوش بقائی" است (وکیل ساکن بورلی هیلز) برای دیدار خانوادگی به ایران رفت. وی قبل از انقلاب به آمریکا آمده و تاکنون به کشورش بازنگشته بود. وی پس ار بازگشت از ایران به من تلفن زد و تعریف کرد که چگونه اقتصاد ایران رونق گرفته و آمریکا دارد فرصت ها را از دست میدهد. وی هنچنین گفت که ملایان با بهانه کردن تحریم های آمریکا علیه ایران برای رفتار خ _________________ Ba sepas
Payandeh Iran |
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cyrus Site Admin
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Joined: 24 Jun 2003 Posts: 4993
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Posted: Fri Feb 23, 2007 9:38 pm Post subject: The Mullahs' Voice |
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The Mullahs' Voice
February 23, 2007
FrontPageMagazine.com
Kenneth R. Timmerman
http://www.frontpagemag.com/Articles/ReadArticle.asp?ID=27053
Iran’s ruling clerics have a new unofficial spokesman in Washington, who can talk circles around their official ambassadors. His name is Trita Parsi, and he is a protégé of Francis Fukayama, the policy heavy-weight who has now turned against the Bush agenda of promoting freedom in the Middle East as an antidote to terror.
In a remarkable round-up of official Iranian government views, presented as “objective” analysis on C-SPAN this past Saturday, Feb. 17, Parsi urged the United States government to “open up diplomacy and dialogue” with Iran’s rulers and to give them a leading role in resolving the sectarian war in Iraq – a war that the Iranians themselves have fueled.
He repeated as evidence of how helpful the Iranians can be a favorite myth of the Left, claiming that Iran helped the United States in Afghanistan in the fall of 2001. In fact, however, Iran set up a “rat line” for al Qaeda members seeking to flee the U.S. bombing in Afghanistan, and has been sheltering al Qaeda operatives ever since. Flights of Iranian army helicopters and fixed wing aircraft to evacuate Bin Laden family members and senior al Qaeda leadership to Mashad were observed at the time by U.S. intelligence, as I reported in Countdown to Crisis.
Parsi also attempted to downplay Iran’s involvement in Iraq, arguing that Iranian-made Explosively Formed Penetrators (EFP’s) were “only” responsible for killing a “small number” of American troops (170!), and that Shia militias “are not responsible” for American casualties.
Then he dismissed the evidence unveiled recently in Baghdad of Iran’s involvement with the insurgents with an argument that only a mullah could have invented. The U.S. claim that it had found Iranian weapons in the hands of insurgents was “not a very serious accusation,” he said, because “a lot of American weapons are in the hands of Sunni insurgents.”
Small wonder that the first question Mr. Parsi was asked when listeners phoned into the early Saturday morning show was whether he was being paid by the Iranian government.
No, he said. His organization, the National Iranian American Council (NIAC), was a “grass-roots lobbying” group funded 80% by private donations, with additional money coming from foundation grants. “We get no money from government sources,” he added, either from Iran or from the United States.
Of course, if the Iranian regime wanted an organization to promote its views in Washington, the last thing it would do is to provide direct grant money to the group. Besides, the Iranian equivalent of our National Endowment for Democracy is the Qods Force, the special branch of the Islamic Republic Guards corps that funds, trains, and commands overseas terrorists – er, “freedom fighters.”
But Mr. Parsi’s quick declaration that his “grass roots” lobbying group is free from government funding is not even true on its face. According to his group’s own annual report for 2003-2004, available from its website, they have received grants from the National Endowment for Democracy, which is a private foundation established by the U.S. government and funded by Congress.
On its website, NED lists a $25,000 grant to NIAC in 2002, “to design and implement a two-day media training workshop in Iran… [to] guage participants general receptiveness to civic activities.” NIAC received a second NED grant in 2005, this time for $64,000, “to strengthen the capacity of civic organizations in Iran.”
NIAC does not describe these activities in its annual reports. However, failed efforts to hold “training workshops” with Iranians in Dubai by another U.S. non-profit group, the Iran Human Rights Documentation Center at Yale University, led to the arrest of several student pro-democracy activists last year. Under pressure by the Iranian authorities, they then denounced U.S. efforts to promote democracy in Iran.
Iranian student activists have complained for years that their movements have been infiltrated by pro-regime elements masquerading as regime opponents. Last year’s mishap over the training workshops in the methods of non-violent conflict would appear to be a case in point.
NIAC acknowledges that it has received funding from the Open Society Institute and the Tides Foundation, both of which have close ties to radical leftwing billion George Soros, who is actively opposing the Bush administration’s crackdown on Iranian meddling in Iraq.
Frontpage magazine editor Ben Johnson reveals in his 2004 study of the Tides Foundation that Tides also funds groups as the Council for American-Islamic Relations, Moveon.org, the Arab-American Action Network, and the National Lawyers Guild, a group founded by the Communist Party USA.)
Is NIAC an authentic grass roots organization, as Parsi claims? It’s hard to know. Its 2004 annual report shows that approximately 29% of NIAC’s funding came from “membership dues.” But without itemization or lists of donors and members, it is impossible to determine whether NIAC is the pet project of a handful of wealthy Iranian donors, who may be promoting their own business interest in resumed trade with Iran, or whether it relies on larger numbers of small donors.
The overwhelming majority of the two million-plus Iranian community in America came to this country to escape the tyranny of the Islamic revolution in Iran. There was strong support within this community for the re-election of President Bush in 2004, and a great deal of deception since then that the president has not lived up to the expectations he had created of helping the Iranian people to free themselves of the yoke of absolute clerical rule.
But this is not NIAC’s agenda. By its own account and by Mr. Parsi’s voluminous public statements, NIAC’s agenda dovetails quite nicely with the agenda of so-called “reformers” in Tehran such as Hojjat-ol eslam Ali Akbar Hashemi-Rafsanjani, who is attempting to paint a happy face on the regime as a reliable partner to stabilize Iraq.
But Rafsanjani is also the man who presided over the buildup of Iran’s clandestine nuclear weapons program and the murder of thousands of Iranian dissidents, at home and abroad.
In a speech at Tehran University on Dec. 14, 2001, the “moderate reformer” Rafsanjani raised the possibility that the Islamic Republic of Iran might be willing to endure “millions” of casualties if it could annihilate Israel in a nuclear exchange. “Such a scenario is not inconceivable,” he said. So much for moderation.
Item number one on the agenda NIAC shares to Tehran’s leaders is to clip the wings of the Bush administration, to prevent a U.S. military attack on Iranian nuclear and missile sites. On Feb. 16, for example, the NIAC website proudly announced that it had joined forces with other left-wing activist groups to buy a full page ad on the back cover of the Congressional Quarterly, “warning against war with Iran.”
Item number two is to promote a “grand bargain” with Iran’s clerical leadership. To legitimize this position, which also was promoted by the Baker-Hamilton Iraq Study Group, NIAC turns to “former neoconservative theorist” Dr. Francis Fukuyama, who famously denounced his former allies in a the New York Times oped last year and now says that the Bush pro-democracy agenda is “in a shambles.”
In NIAC’s account, Fukuyama described the Iranian regime at a recent Capitol Hill conference as a “cautious regional actor,” and “described Iranian foreign policy as pragmatic and rational,” while urging the Bush administration to hold its nose and cut a deal.
To further credit this thesis, Parsi has been feeding the press with information about a much-hyped Iranian offer to “negotiate” with the United States in May 2003. His latest, breathless claim is that he acquired a copy of the Iranian offer while in Iran and gave it to Rep. Robert Ney (recently sentenced to prison for his role in the Jack Abramoff lobbying scandal), and that Ney hand-delivered it to Karl Rove in the White House. Says Rove-hunter Steve Clemons, “the revelation that Rove is involved is huge.”
So let’s get this straight. An organization that has received funding from the National Endowment for Democracy to promote democracy in Iran is actually promoting the views of the Tehran regime in Washington, seeking to sabotage U.S. policy, and actually boasts of playing an intermediary role for Tehran’s mullahs in apparent violation of the Logan Act. Hmmn.
Other items on the NIAC agenda that dovetail nicely with the desiderata of Tehranwere on display at the conference the group co-sponsored last week on Capitol Hill with Clemons’ New America Foundation.
Former IAEA deputy director Bruno Pellaud made the unbelievable claim that the IAEA has found “no evidence of a nuclear weapons program” in Iran. That, of course, is just what the regime wants us to believe.
Pellaud’s statement non-plussed even Clintonista Joe Cirincirone, formerly in charge of non-proliferation programs at the Carnegie Endowment, who has made a profession of mocking the Bush administration for swallowing intelligence community claims on Iraqi WMD for years.
Cirincirone gently reminded Pellaud of multiple findings of clandestine nuclear weapons research by the IAEA in Iran, including documents and equipment for producing “hemispheres” of highly-enriched uranium, which have “no other use” than for nuclear weapons. (To understand Pellaud’s thinking, it’s necessary to recall that he was the top deputy to Hans Blix when the blind Swede headed the IAEA and for 18 years fail to detect Iran’s clandestine nuclear programs.)
Beyond that, NIAC and Tehran would both like to see U.S. and UN sanctions on Iran lifted, so that U.S. capital and oil drilling technology can rescue Iran’s ageing oil fields from extinction.
Want to know what Tehran’s thinking? There’s no need to turn to the Islamic Republic News Agency, or to watch Supreme leader Ayatollah Khamenei or Ahmadinejad. Just listen to the Mullah’s voice in Washington.
Trita Parsi makes the Iranian regime sound so reasonable. So pragmatic. So – well, just like us. The kind of folks we can do a deal with.
And as the mullahs take home that agreement with our signature on it with a smile, the Qods force continues to murder U.S. soldiers in Iraq. And those uranium enrichment centrifuges continue to spin, somewhere inside an unknown mountain in Iran. |
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Oldman
Joined: 01 Feb 2005 Posts: 158 Location: USA
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Posted: Sun Apr 08, 2007 9:56 pm Post subject: Here is more |
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Ba dorood:
This organization with all its arms and legs in any form or fashion must be chopped off. Not just for Iran's sake but the world. They are nothing but Mullahs in suits.
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Dr. Brent Lollis;
Know your friends - and your enemies.
I am not sure where you reside, probably if you were in USA, Canada or somewhere in the democratic world that had not fooled to the propaganda and not fallen in the “Money Trap” you would have already known that this person Amirahmadi and his clans are not who you think he is.
First of all he is not a Professor by profession, he is not even a doctor, but he is good in money laundering, he is good in fooling people propagating the regime that for last 29 years mastered the terror, hostage taking dramas, attacking to the US and Jews, and Britons etc.,
He is good in helping the “Axis of Evil” therefore if you are helping him, then you should think twice, either you are with us or you are with terror masters and DEVILS.
Get your acts together and don’t give a damn to this man. To know more go to this website and look for the keywords http://iran.org/
The AIC is a lobbying group with 501(c)3 status that consistently takes positions in sync with the Tehran regime,
NIAC Dirctor Trita Parsi as "the Mullah's Voice, _________________ Ba sepas
Payandeh Iran |
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ViaHHakimi
Joined: 22 Jul 2004 Posts: 142
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Posted: Mon Apr 16, 2007 8:35 pm Post subject: Iran’s Oil Mafia |
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Iran’s Oil Mafia
By Hassan Daioleslam
FrontPageMagazine.com | April 16, 2007
http://www.frontpagemag.com/Articles/Printable.asp?ID=27787
Robert William (Bob) Ney is a current federal prisoner and a former Ohio Congressman from 1995 until November 3, 2006. On October 13, 2006 Ney pled guilty to charges of conspiracy and making false statements in relation to the Jack Abramoff lobbying and bribery scandal. Ney reportedly received bribes from Abramoff, other lobbyists, and two foreign businessmen - a felon and an arms dealer - in exchange for using his position to advance their interests.
Conspicuously missing from this dossier of disservice to the country was Ney’s assistance in the creation of a Washington-based lobbying enterprise for the Iranian theocratic regime, The National Iranian-American Council (NIAC). NIAC is part of an extensive US lobbying web that objectively furthers the interests of the Islamic Republic of Iran. This article will address the creation of NIAC, Tehran’s role, NIAC’s connection to Iran’s oil mafia, and NIAC attempts to penetrate US political system.
Creation of NIAC
The National Iranian-American Council (NIAC) was founded thanks to the efforts of four non Iranian-Americans: Roy Coffee, Dave DiStefano, Rep. Bob Ney, and Trita Parsi. Coffee and DiStefano, both Washington lobbyists, were investigated by the Justice Department for arranging a trip to London for Bob Ney, where he met a Syrian arms dealer and convicted felon involved in a conspiracy to circumvent sanctions to sell US-made aircraft parts to Tehran.
Roy Coffee sent a letter to the Dallas Morning News in February 2006 to justify his relationship with the two London-based felons. Part of the letter discussed the founding of NIAC:
“Back in the spring or summer of 2002, a good friend of mine from law school, Darius Baghai, had just returned from visiting relatives in Iran for the first time since his family left before the revolution. He spoke with me about how the economy of Iran was humming …….From this, I took Darius in to visit with Mr. Ney. What was to be a 15 minute meeting became a 1 1/2 hour meeting as they spoke passionately about their hopes for the Iranian people. They also spoke in Farsi a great deal - I'm sure talking smack about me. From that meeting, Darius, Dave and I began to work with Trita Parsi, another Iranian-American to try to form a political action committee of Iranian-Americans to pursue a strategy of normalization of relations between the two countries…. The 4 of us worked very hard for about 9 months to form this committee.”
At the time, Trita Parsi was a Swedish-Iranian graduate student in his early twenties, best known for ties to Iran’s ambassador in Sweden. A successful self-promoter, he soon attached himself as a part-time aide to Congressman Ney before he was appointed president of NIAC.
The New Lobby
NIAC’s predecessor, the American-Iranian Council (AIC), was established in the 1990s with backing from multinational oil companies. For many years, it spear-headed pro-Tehran lobbying effort in the US.
AIC president Houshang Amirahmadi had been an active pro-Tehran player since early 1980s. While residing in US, he was also a presidential candidate in Iran’s elections, and officially collaborated with different Iranian institutions and notably the foreign ministry. In 1999 and 2000 Trita Parsi was helping Amirahmadi to organize lobbying events in Washington.
In 2001, the pro-Iran lobby in the United States became intensely active to prevent the renewal of the Iran Libya Sanctions Act (ILSA), and to lift U.S. sanctions on Iran. Despite extraordinary pressure from the lobby, ILSA passed overwhelmingly.
Prior to his imprisonment in March 2007, Bob Ney led Congressional efforts to defeat ILSA and initiate Tehran-friendly policies in concert with AIC. Disappointed and angered by the ILSA vote, Ney began to plan for the next battle of the war.
“The ILSA vote doesn’t look very promising, but that doesn’t mean the struggle should stop on this entire issue. It is a matter of education and re-education and people getting together and forming a citizen’s lobby to make sure that members of Congress and their offices are educated on this issue,” Ney told AIC in a June 2001 speech.
While Ney was hard at work “forming a citizen’s lobby,” Trita Parsi claimed that the majority of lawmakers voted against their true wills. In a tone apologetic to Tehran, he expressed his hope that the Iranian regime understood that he and his colleagues had worked hard to prevent this result:
“Hopefully, Tehran will recognize that an honest attempt was made to defeat or at least weaken the sanctions. The call for a review and Speaker Hastert's pledge to insist on Congressional action based on the review must also be interpreted by Tehran as a step in the right direction” (Iran Analysis July 2001 Peyvand Iran News)
This failure to block the renewal of ILSA in 2001 marked the start of a new era for the pro-Iran lobby in the United States. The lobbyists recognized that they must broadly reach out to Iranian-Americans.NIAC was created to put those plans in motion.
Trita Parsi was the regime’s trusted man within the new network. Tehran’s faith in Parsi was so profound that in 2003 when Iran decided to send a highly secret proposal for negotiations to the White House, Parsi was called on to arrange the delivery of the message through Bob Ney to Karl Rove. Parsi, moreover, was among the few chosen men (along with Mahallati, Iran’s former ambassador to UN) to present the results of a shady Tehran-friendly poll of the Iranian population which indicated the popularity of Iran’s nuclear program.
Trita Parsi and the Regime’s Inner Circle
During the eight years of Rafsanjani’s presidency, which ended in 1997, the Iranian regime had attempted without success to attract the Iranian Diaspora to its cause. Khatami’s presidency recharged Tehran’s efforts. With the Supreme Leader’s direct involvement, the High Council for Iranian Compatriots Overseas was created in 2000. The President heads the Council, and the Foreign Minister serves as its deputy director. The Ministry of Intelligence and the Ministry of Culture and Islamic Guidance collaborate to implement the decisions of the council.
The objective was to create a network of organizations to infiltrate and seemingly represent the Iranian community abroad, and promote policies favorable to the Iranian government. Tehran anticipated that this strategy would neutralize opposition activities abroad and legitimize the new lobby.
State-sanctioned Iranian newspapers started a campaign to promote Trita Parsi and NIAC. Pro-government publications outside Iran followed suit. The former head of the Iran interest in Washington, Ambassador Faramarze Fathnejad, was thrilled with the efforts of Trita Parsi and NIAC, and underlined “the importance of relation with Iranian organizations in the U.S. and specially pointed to NIAC and his young leader who is a consultant to CNN and has been very successful in his efforts.” The Iran Ambassador even claimed 20,000 strong membership for NIAC (while only 150 is claimed by NIAC itself)!
But token rhetorical support would not alone turn an inexperienced graduate student and a corrupt Washington politician into a lobbying enterprise. Entities with ample financial resources and direct access to Iran’s top leaders had to enter the scene. This is where Siamak Namazi, an important figures of this new lobbying enterprise and a prominent member of the Iranian oil Mafia, enters the scene.
Trita Parsi and Namazi worked closely on developing the details of a grand plan to create an Iranian-American “Citizen’s Lobby.” They traveled to Iran together They organized joint conferences and meetings. In 1999, they co-authored a seminal paper, that provided the roadmap for the organization that later became NIAC. 24
Namazi, along with his sister Pari and brother Babak, control the Atieh enterprise in Iran and its three sister companies Atieh Roshan, Atieh Bahar and Atieh Associates, as well as numerous other direct and indirect partnerships, including Azar Energy, Menas companies in England, Atieh Dadeh Pardaz, FTZ Corporate services and MES Middle East Strategies.. Particularly noteworthy is the fact that Baquer Namazi (their father) is the Chairman of Hamyaran, identified by the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars as a “resource center” in Tehran for Iranian non-governmental organizations (NGOs).
Atieh claims to be a “fully private strategic consulting firm that assists companies better understand the Iranian market, develop business and stay ahead of [the] competition.” People familiar with the oil industry in Iran understand the coded language, After all, rulers in every country in the Middle East use outside consultants to negotiate the discrete terms of lucrative oil contracts.
Atieh’s customers include the foreign corporations who wish to do business in Iran. One Atieh Bahar customer, Norway’s Statoil, has been publicly identified as a participant in a scheme to bribe Iranian government officials by the US Securities and Exchange Commission and the Department of Justice. A number of high officials in the company were fired and the company had to pay tens of millions of dollars in penalties to the US and Norwegian governments for “payments to an Iranian official in 2002 and 2003 in order to induce him to use his influence to obtain the award to Statoil of a contract to develop phases 6, 7 and 8 of the Iranian South Pars gas field.”
The most recent debacle of Atieh enterprise was in March 2007 when the CEO of the French oil company Total SA was charged with having bribed senior Iranian officials to secure contracts. Total is a major customer of the Namazi’s Atieh enterprise.
Tehran’s trust in Namazi is further evidenced by the fact that his company provides the network and computer services for almost all Iranian banks, the Majles (parliament), and other important institutions. Namazi’s groups monitor nearly all Iranian economic or political activities and have access to the country’s most sensitive data. This is a clear indication of his prominent place inside the inner circle of power in Tehran.
While representing Tehran, Namazi, disguised as a scholar travels to the US to seemingly pursue academic activities . He succeeded so well that the Congressionally-funded National Endowment for Democracy awarded him a Reagan-Fascell Democracy Fellowship in 2005.
This link between the Iranian oil Mafia and “scholarly” pursuits in the US is hardly isolated. Three former Iranian deputy foreign ministers currently live in Boston posing as “scholars”: Mohammad Mahallati who was also the Iranian ambassador to the UN in the late 1980s, Farhad Atai and, Abbas Maleki. In addition to his diplomatic past, Maleki has been one of the most important figures within the Iranian oil Mafia.
The Roadmap
In 1999, Parsi and Namazi presented a joint paper titled “Iranian-Americans: The bridge between two nations” at a conference organized by the Iranian government in Cypress. This report contains the manifesto and the roadmap for the new Iranian lobby in the US. The authors argue that “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). The pillars of the road map were:
· To have the appearance of a citizen’s lobby
· To mimic the Jewish lobby in the US
· To impede Iranian opposition activities
· To infiltrate the US political system
· To break the taboo of working with the Iran’s cleric rulers for the Iranian Diaspora
· To improve the image of the Iran’s government abroad24.
In their report, Namazi and Parsi acknowledged that problems of organizing a pro-regime lobby within the Iranian-American community:
“This group’s role has not been utilized any where close to its potential, however, for several reasons: A good portion of them were against the IRI [Islamic Republic of Iran], therefore would not do anything to help.”
“The point is, [Iranian Americans] were not about to form a lobby group that would benefit the establishment in Tehran, or benefit the Iranian-Americans themselves as a community, nor was it for the most part interested in forming a pressure group against the Islamic Republic.”
This was also underlined by Roy Coffee, one of the NIAC’s founders:
“We [NIAC’s founders] found that most Iranians do not want to get involved in politics because of their experiences in Iran during and after the revolution. They have come to this country to make a better life for themselves and their children and don't want to get involved.”
The lack of participation by the Iranian American community in this lobby has been overcome with a sophisticated machine of professional lobbyists and “friendly” circles who favor a rapprochement with the Iranian regime.
Tehran’s Advice: Mimic Jewish Lobby in Washington
One of the hallmarks of the new lobby was its desire to rival the “Israeli Lobby” in the United States. This aspiration led to the creation of the Iranian American Political Action Committee (IAPAC), loosely modeled after similar organizations created by AIPAC (American Israeli Public Affairs Committee). Three of IAPAC’s board members came from the AIC’s leadership.
In their 1999 paper, Parsi and Namazi analyzed at length the techniques used by AIPAC, and suggested that the same approach should be taken to create an Iranian lobby in Washington:
“Creating similar types of seminars and intern opportunities to Iranian-American youth may not improve Iran-US relations in the short run, but it will help integrate the Iranian-American community into the political life of America. In the long run, a strong and active Iranian- American lobby, partly established through these seminars and by the participants of these programs, may serve to ensure that the US and Iran never find themselves in violent opposition to each other again.”
Trita Parsi has been reciting this comparison to the Israeli lobby since the late 1990’s, about the time that the High Council was formed in Tehran. At the beginning his tone was more contentious and resembled the mullah’s usual rhetoric, but more recently he has toned down his anti-Israeli remarks, at least in English.
The government-owned newspaper Aftab published an interview with Trita Parsi on December 28, 2006 that underscores Parsi’s efforts on behalf of the Iranian regime..
Translation: “The conflict between Iran and the West on Iran’s nuclear file has entered a critical state. The government must now utilize all the possible resources to defend the national interest. In this, we have not paid enough attention to the potentially significant influence of the Iranian American society in moderating the extremist policies of the White House. In comparison of this untouched potential to the influence of the Jewish lobby in directing the policies of Washington in supporting Israel, we see the difference between what is and what could be.”
Siamak Namazi began sounding similar themes.:
“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.”
Not Lobbyists?
As Ney’s criminal bribery and lobbying fiasco became more public, NIAC’s president Trita Parsi began to downplay NIAC’s lobbying activities. (NIAC is registered as a 501 c3, to which certain legal restrictions apply.) Furthermore, being lobbied by a former aid would have added to Ney’s already complicated situation. Asked in 2005 whether his group lobbied the US Congress, Trita Parsi told an interviewer:
“Our group does not do any lobbying at all. We do not contact the Congressmen to support or oppose a bill.”
Since its creation, however, NIAC has strived to penetrate the US political system in accordance with the roadmap Namazi and Parsi established in 1999. As the Washington Post reported on June 25, 2006:
“The NIAC helped persuade a dozen conservative House members to sign a letter to President Bush earlier this month calling for unconditional negotiations with Iran's regime.”
The external communications of Parsi and other NIAC leaders shed further light on NIAC’s lobbying activities.
“The NIAC members have educational and experimental knowledge on the lobbying process and politics in America.”
“.. we must establish connections on Capitol Hill to establish early-warning systems about proposed votes or bills that may oppose the best interests of Iranian-Americans.”
Bob Ney, Roy Coffee, and Dave DiStefano arranged numerous workshops, training classes, seminars and speeches in which they themselves and others with experience prepared members and affiliates of NIAC to lobby and influence Congress. Parsi, Namazi and Ney organized public gatherings and discrete and exclusive $1,000 per plate fundraiser events. They even developed a training manual for lobbyists, a copy of which was sent to this writer by a former NIAC member.
NIAC itself admits that “In 2002, Congressman Ney benefited from letters sent by Iranian-Americans through NIAC's Legislative Action Center in support of his resolution on US-Iran relations.”
Infiltrating Congress
Trita Parsi, Namazi and their backers fully intended to infiltrate the US Congress. One of the methods they boast of involves recruiting young Iranian Americans to serve as Congressional interns or pages by offering room, board and financial incentives. NIAC’s website brags of success stories in this venture.
NIAC claims to have drafted the young Iranian American Press Secretary for Rep. Marcy Kaptur to help in improving the lobbying skills of NIAC members and affiliates. Similarly, an Iranian American student in the University of Minnesota received a financial scholarship in his senior year and becomes an intern in Senator Norm Coleman’s (R-MN) Washington office. Another intern, a graduate of University of South Florida, was placed in Congressman Jim Davis’ (D-FL) Washington, D.C. office. Expanding the operation to penetrate the US political system, NIAC has now formally implemented a paid trainee program and is actively in search for unwary Iranian American youth.
Conclusion
Since the early 1990’s, Tehran has embarked on developing a sophisticated lobbying enterprise in the United States. Iran’s government has devoted significant manpower and financial resources to this cause. This lobbying enterprise consists of a complex, intermingled web of entities and organizations with significant overlap of leadership, and heavy involvement of the notoriously mafia-like inner circles of the Iranian regime. Disguised as scholars, many of the former Iranian government officials reside in the US and constitute an important piece of the lobby machine. NIAC and its major figures, such as Bob Ney and Trita Parsi are effective nodes of Tehran’s efforts to manipulate US policy toward self-serving ends.
Hassan Daioleslam is an independent researcher and writer who has worked closely with two experienced investigative reporters inside Iran to explore and expose Iran lobbying enterprise in the United States.
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Oldman
Joined: 01 Feb 2005 Posts: 158 Location: USA
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Posted: Tue Apr 17, 2007 11:08 am Post subject: |
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Ba dorood your Excellency:
I was about to post the article you have posted here. Thank you SIR! _________________ Ba sepas
Payandeh Iran |
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cyrus Site Admin
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Joined: 24 Jun 2003 Posts: 4993
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Posted: Wed May 16, 2007 1:20 pm Post subject: QUESTIONS PUT TO ALL MULLAH APOLOGIST ACADEMIA |
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YARI NATIONAL GROUP wrote: | QUESTIONS PUT TO ALL MULLAH
APOLOGIST ACADEMIA
1. Why all the deductions and analysis you come up, is exactly the same as your other known fellow Mullah academia Apologists? This is regardless of your individual affiliation with various organizations.
All your reports and statements seem to be the Carbon Copy of the other academicians in the Mullah Lobby groups. Don't you have separate agenda/goals? More or less you have been ordered to follow the same suit?
2. In all your defense of Mullah's and their shameful government, where Iranian people come into your equations?
We have never; ever seen any of you even mention Iranian People in your discussions, analysis and deductions. Why? You are all so much above the common ordinary people that you do not even consider them? They do not count?
Some of us have been following this so called academia to see if we can learn something. as you see from invitation request, attached below, Mr. Titra Parsi lectured for 50 Iranian Americans at UCLA.
Among attendees Mr. Nader Saleh, the founder of Iranian American group in 1980's and his trusted treasurer from that by gone era, Mr. Ghaffor Mirzahi were present. Needless to say this man is truly the grandfather of the modern association/groups with Mullah Support tendencies.
Mr. Parsi's lecture as you see "attached" was about, Iran , Israel (with a faint hint of Anti Semitism as spice) and USA .
Mr. Parsi ended his lecture with conclusion, that Late Shah of Iran betrayed USA!! Not even for a moment did he mentioned Iranian people, the hardship and pain they have endured in the hands of Mullah's.
Also, today Voice of America interviewed Dr. Amir Ahmadi. He was using the same rhetoric that all Mullah Apologist academia are using. Not even once did he mention anything about the plight of Iranian people. As though there are no Iranians are in Iran !
In addition to above, only couple of days before, Goli Ameri and cohorts, in New York City had a gathering (Please see their invitation below).
This gathering was held at the swank upscale Carlyle hotel at 76 Street and Madison . Out of town guests had reservations to stay at the same hotel. The group had arranged special discount group rates for their guests. The room charge was $800 per night.
The new founders of this up and coming Iranian-American association have no name for it as of now. Please read their by-laws and mission statement to see what they intend to do (attached).
We were informally told; the members will have to shell out over $20,000 per person to become associated with this group. They have already arranged meeting in Sonoma (Northern California wine country) at a vineyard to attract the Silicon Valley well to do Iranians.
Although, they are still looking and trying to find ways to dance Cheek to Cheek with Mullah's, you will not see a single word about, fellow Iranian people!
The amazing issue, is to see all these respected, sophisticated and well to do people, their attraction/dedication to bunch of Mullah's who have destroyed whatever was good in our land.
They gather, use every source available at their possession to preserve and prolong Mullah's murderous regime in our own country.
They all say the same thing in favor of Mullah's. None of them give a damn about the Iranian people!
Can someone answer our questions please?
Is it true historically, Iranians love traitors?
Are these people are blind not to see the pain and suffering their fellow brothers and sisters are enduring under the brutal regime of Mullah's? The Mullah's are so good; they wish to assist them, continue ruling Iran ?
It is up to each and every one us, to expose whoever is supporting the Mullah's. Only through sharing information we can render their united efforts ineffective.
STRENGHT THROUGH UNITY
YARI NATIONAL GROUP
UNITED WE STAND. DIVIDED WE FALL |
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Oldman
Joined: 01 Feb 2005 Posts: 158 Location: USA
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Posted: Sat May 19, 2007 11:45 am Post subject: |
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Ba dorood:
NIAC, Islamic Rip-off's lobby arm in USA, is asking Iranians to join them in a protest against a movie out of Hollywood depicting an Iranian family in an HONOR KILLING.
NIAC is protesting to this not because makes Iranians look bad but it makes ISLAM look bad.
Honor killing is an Arabic behavior that has come to Iran through Islam. Iranians never had this ritual prior to Islam therefore, please note why NIAC is protesting to this movie.
While this movie may hurt Iranians but it is directly against Islam. NIAC did not make ask Iranians for a protest on Movie 300, so ask yourself why is NIAC so upset about this movie but nothing came out of them (300 really was worse insult to Iranians).
Please let your friends and family know that this protest by NIAC is nothing but to protect Islamic Rip-off under insult to Iranians.
Please spread this exposure worldwide. _________________ Ba sepas
Payandeh Iran |
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cyrus Site Admin
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Posted: Mon Jul 16, 2007 4:05 pm Post subject: NIAC Makes Progress in Defamation Case with VOA Persian |
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Banafsheh Zand-Bonazzi Email Post wrote: |
NIAC Makes Progress in Defamation Case with VOA Persian
NIAC
July 11, 2007
Washington DC – The National Iranian American Council (NIAC) has taken legal action against proponents of US-Iran war who have waged a defamation campaign against NIAC. As a first sign of success, Voice of America ’s Persian Service agreed to halt providing these activists a platform to spread false rumors about NIAC.
In a letter dated June 19, 2007, NIAC's attorney Afshin Pishevar demanded that Voice of America , Persian Service (VOA) "cease and desist" from continuing to function as a political platform for those attacking NIAC. This was the first time NIAC resorted to legal measures to thwart the campaign to depict all opponents of war between the US and Iran as agents of the Iranian government.
The cease and desist came following a broadcast on June 7, 2007 on VOA featuring Hassan Daioleslam. Throughout the program, Daioleslam lodged malicious and baseless claims against NIAC and its efforts to prevent war.
Unlike private news outlets, the government-funded VOA is legally bound to live up to strict journalistic standards and is answerable to Congress and American tax-payers. These standards include double sourcing information and providing accurate, all encompassing coverage of a given issue. The agency's Journalistic Code requires that for all coverage, including call-in shows, "views of a single party must be challenged by the interviewer if alternative opinions are unrepresented."
In violation of VOA's publicly proclaimed standards, the VOA host did not counter the slanderous remarks made by Daioleslam against NIAC during the live TV show, nor did he press the guest for evidence to back up his claims. NIAC was not invited to appear on the program, despite the host's public statement to the contrary.
Whether this was intentional or the result of staffer's lack journalistic training, the broadcast functioned to validate and propagate Daioleslam's false information.
Earlier this year, Daioleslam published an article targeting NIAC in FrontPage Magazine, a neo-conservative outlet. In April, NIAC issued a formal response to Daioleslam's article exposing the speciousness of his claims.
VOA had scheduled another appearance with Daioleslam on July 7. In a letter dated July 5, an attorney for NIAC called the advent of such a project "clear and convincing evidence of malice and wanton disregard for the truth" and placed the agency on legal notice. The program was cancelled the next day.
There is widespread concern that VOA has as of late failed to live up to its strict journalistic standards and organizational mandate. "Certainly, VOA Persian is not giving the Iranian public a fair image of American journalism or American values," Afshin Pishevar concluded in its letter to the agency in June. "And certainly, this is not the type of journalism Congress had in mind when they allocated funds to VOA's Persian programming."
NIAC is seeking a meeting with VOA's management to put a permanent stop to its broadcasts being used for political defamation.
Founded in 2002, NIAC is a grassroots, non-partisan and non-profit organization promoting the interests of the Iranian-American community. Its members and staff are deeply committed to ensuring that war between the US and Iran is avoided and that the disputes between the two nations are resolved peacefully.
_________________________________________
Iran’s Oil Mafia
By Hassan Daioleslam
FrontPageMagazine.com | April 16, 2007
http://frontpagemagazine.com/Articles/ReadArticle.asp?ID=27787
Robert William (Bob) Ney is a current federal prisoner and a former Ohio Congressman from 1995 until November 3, 2006. On October 13, 2006 Ney pled guilty to charges of conspiracy and making false statements in relation to the Jack Abramoff lobbying and bribery scandal. Ney reportedly received bribes from Abramoff, other lobbyists, and two foreign businessmen - a felon and an arms dealer - in exchange for using his position to advance their interests.
Conspicuously missing from this dossier of disservice to the country was Ney’s assistance in the creation of a Washington-based lobbying enterprise for the Iranian theocratic regime, The National Iranian-American Council (NIAC). NIAC is part of an extensive US lobbying web that objectively furthers the interests of the Islamic Republic of Iran . This article will address the creation of NIAC, Tehran ’s role, NIAC’s connection to Iran ’s oil mafia, and NIAC attempts to penetrate US political system.
Creation of NIAC
The National Iranian-American Council (NIAC) was founded thanks to the efforts of four non Iranian-Americans: Roy Coffee, Dave DiStefano, Rep. Bob Ney, and Trita Parsi. Coffee and DiStefano, both Washington lobbyists, were investigated by the Justice Department for arranging a trip to London for Bob Ney, where he met a Syrian arms dealer and convicted felon involved in a conspiracy to circumvent sanctions to sell US-made aircraft parts to Tehran .
Roy Coffee sent a letter to the Dallas Morning News in February 2006 to justify his relationship with the two London-based felons. Part of the letter discussed the founding of NIAC:
“Back in the spring or summer of 2002, a good friend of mine from law school, Darius Baghai, had just returned from visiting relatives in Iran for the first time since his family left before the revolution. He spoke with me about how the economy of Iran was humming …….From this, I took Darius in to visit with Mr. Ney. What was to be a 15 minute meeting became a 1 1/2 hour meeting as they spoke passionately about their hopes for the Iranian people. They also spoke in Farsi a great deal - I'm sure talking smack about me. From that meeting, Darius, Dave and I began to work with Trita Parsi, another Iranian-American to try to form a political action committee of Iranian-Americans to pursue a strategy of normalization of relations between the two countries…. The 4 of us worked very hard for about 9 months to form this committee.”
At the time, Trita Parsi was a Swedish-Iranian graduate student in his early twenties, best known for ties to Iran ’s ambassador in Sweden . A successful self-promoter, he soon attached himself as a part-time aide to Congressman Ney before he was appointed president of NIAC.
The New Lobby
NIAC’s predecessor, the American-Iranian Council (AIC), was established in the 1990s with backing from multinational oil companies. For many years, it spear-headed pro-Tehran lobbying effort in the US .
AIC president Houshang Amirahmadi had been an active pro-Tehran player since early 1980s. While residing in US, he was also a presidential candidate in Iran ’s elections, and officially collaborated with different Iranian institutions and notably the foreign ministry. In 1999 and 2000 Trita Parsi was helping Amirahmadi to organize lobbying events in Washington .
In 2001, the pro-Iran lobby in the United States became intensely active to prevent the renewal of the Iran Libya Sanctions Act (ILSA), and to lift U.S. sanctions on Iran . Despite extraordinary pressure from the lobby, ILSA passed overwhelmingly.
Prior to his imprisonment in March 2007, Bob Ney led Congressional efforts to defeat ILSA and initiate Tehran-friendly policies in concert with AIC. Disappointed and angered by the ILSA vote, Ney began to plan for the next battle of the war.
“The ILSA vote doesn’t look very promising, but that doesn’t mean the struggle should stop on this entire issue. It is a matter of education and re-education and people getting together and forming a citizen’s lobby to make sure that members of Congress and their offices are educated on this issue,” Ney told AIC in a June 2001 speech.
While Ney was hard at work “forming a citizen’s lobby,” Trita Parsi claimed that the majority of lawmakers voted against their true wills. In a tone apologetic to Tehran , he expressed his hope that the Iranian regime understood that he and his colleagues had worked hard to prevent this result:
“Hopefully, Tehran will recognize that an honest attempt was made to defeat or at least weaken the sanctions. The call for a review and Speaker Hastert's pledge to insist on Congressional action based on the review must also be interpreted by Tehran as a step in the right direction” (Iran Analysis July 2001 Peyvand Iran News)
This failure to block the renewal of ILSA in 2001 marked the start of a new era for the pro-Iran lobby in the United States . The lobbyists recognized that they must broadly reach out to Iranian-Americans. NIAC was created to put those plans in motion.
Trita Parsi was the regime’s trusted man within the new network. Tehran’s faith in Parsi was so profound that in 2003 when Iran decided to send a highly secret proposal for negotiations to the White House, Parsi was called on to arrange the delivery of the message through Bob Ney to Karl Rove. Parsi, moreover, was among the few chosen men (along with Mahallati , Iran ’s former ambassador to UN) to present the results of a shady Tehran-friendly poll of the Iranian population which indicated the popularity of Iran ’s nuclear program.
Trita Parsi and the Regime’s Inner Circle
During the eight years of Rafsanjani’s presidency, which ended in 1997, the Iranian regime had attempted without success to attract the Iranian Diaspora to its cause. Khatami’s presidency recharged Tehran ’s efforts. With the Supreme Leader’s direct involvement, the High Council for Iranian Compatriots Overseas was created in 2000. The President heads the Council, and the Foreign Minister serves as its deputy director. The Ministry of Intelligence and the Ministry of Culture and Islamic Guidance collaborate to implement the decisions of the council.
The objective was to create a network of organizations to infiltrate and seemingly represent the Iranian community abroad, and promote policies favorable to the Iranian government. Tehran anticipated that this strategy would neutralize opposition activities abroad and legitimize the new lobby.
State-sanctioned Iranian newspapers started a campaign to promote Trita Parsi and NIAC. Pro-government publications outside Iran followed suit. The former head of the Iran interest in Washington, Ambassador Faramarze Fathnejad, was thrilled with the efforts of Trita Parsi and NIAC, and underlined “the importance of relation with Iranian organizations in the U.S. and specially pointed to NIAC and his young leader who is a consultant to CNN and has been very successful in his efforts.” The Iran Ambassador even claimed 20,000 strong membership for NIAC (while only 150 is claimed by NIAC itself)!
But token rhetorical support would not alone turn an inexperienced graduate student and a corrupt Washington politician into a lobbying enterprise. Entities with ample financial resources and direct access to Iran ’s top leaders had to enter the scene. This is where Siamak Namazi, an important figures of this new lobbying enterprise and a prominent member of the Iranian oil Mafia, enters the scene.
Trita Parsi and Namazi worked closely on developing the details of a grand plan to create an Iranian-American “Citizen’s Lobby.” They traveled to Iran together They organized joint conferences and meetings. In 1999, they co-authored a seminal paper, that provided the roadmap for the organization that later became NIAC. 24
Namazi, along with his sister Pari and brother Babak, control the Atieh enterprise in Iran and its three sister companies Atieh Roshan, Atieh Bahar and Atieh Associates, as well as numerous other direct and indirect partnerships, including Azar Energy, Menas companies in England, Atieh Dadeh Pardaz, FTZ Corporate services and MES Middle East Strategies.. Particularly noteworthy is the fact that Baquer Namazi (their father) is the Chairman of Hamyaran, identified by the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars as a “resource center” in Tehran for Iranian non-governmental organizations (NGOs).
Atieh claims to be a “fully private strategic consulting firm that assists companies better understand the Iranian market, develop business and stay ahead of [the] competition.” People familiar with the oil industry in Iran understand the coded language, After all, rulers in every country in the Middle East use outside consultants to negotiate the discrete terms of lucrative oil contracts.
Atieh’s customers include the foreign corporations who wish to do business in Iran . One Atieh Bahar customer, Norway’s Statoil, has been publicly identified as a participant in a scheme to bribe Iranian government officials by the US Securities and Exchange Commission and the Department of Justice. A number of high officials in the company were fired and the company had to pay tens of millions of dollars in penalties to the US and Norwegian governments for “payments to an Iranian official in 2002 and 2003 in order to induce him to use his influence to obtain the award to Statoil of a contract to develop phases 6, 7 and 8 of the Iranian South Pars gas field.”
The most recent debacle of Atieh enterprise was in March 2007 when the CEO of the French oil company Total SA was charged with having bribed senior Iranian officials to secure contracts. Total is a major customer of the Namazi’s Atieh enterprise.
Tehran’s trust in Namazi is further evidenced by the fact that his company provides the network and computer services for almost all Iranian banks, the Majles (parliament), and other important institutions. Namazi’s groups monitor nearly all Iranian economic or political activities and have access to the country’s most sensitive data. This is a clear indication of his prominent place inside the inner circle of power in Tehran .
While representing Tehran , Namazi, disguised as a scholar travels to the US to seemingly pursue academic activities . He succeeded so well that the Congressionally-funded National Endowment for Democracy awarded him a Reagan-Fascell Democracy Fellowship in 2005.
This link between the Iranian oil Mafia and “scholarly” pursuits in the US is hardly isolated. Three former Iranian deputy foreign ministers currently live in Boston posing as “scholars”: Mohammad Mahallati who was also the Iranian ambassador to the UN in the late 1980s, Farhad Atai and, Abbas Maleki. In addition to his diplomatic past, Maleki has been one of the most important figures within the Iranian oil Mafia.
The Roadmap
In 1999, Parsi and Namazi presented a joint paper titled “Iranian-Americans: The bridge between two nations” at a conference organized by the Iranian government in Cypress . This report contains the manifesto and the roadmap for the new Iranian lobby in the US . The authors argue that “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). The pillars of the road map were:
· To have the appearance of a citizen’s lobby
· To mimic the Jewish lobby in the US
· To impede Iranian opposition activities
· To infiltrate the US political system
· To break the taboo of working with the Iran ’s cleric rulers for the Iranian Diaspora
· To improve the image of the Iran ’s government abroad24.
In their report, Namazi and Parsi acknowledged that problems of organizing a pro-regime lobby within the Iranian-American community:
“This group’s role has not been utilized any where close to its potential, however, for several reasons: A good portion of them were against the IRI [Islamic Republic of Iran], therefore would not do anything to help.”
“The point is, [Iranian Americans] were not about to form a lobby group that would benefit the establishment in Tehran , or benefit the Iranian-Americans themselves as a community, nor was it for the most part interested in forming a pressure group against the Islamic Republic.”
This was also underlined by Roy Coffee, one of the NIAC’s founders:
“We [NIAC’s founders] found that most Iranians do not want to get involved in politics because of their experiences in Iran during and after the revolution. They have come to this country to make a better life for themselves and their children and don't want to get involved.”
The lack of participation by the Iranian American community in this lobby has been overcome with a sophisticated machine of professional lobbyists and “friendly” circles who favor a rapprochement with the Iranian regime.
Tehran’s Advice: Mimic Jewish Lobby in Washington
One of the hallmarks of the new lobby was its desire to rival the “Israeli Lobby” in the United States . This aspiration led to the creation of the Iranian American Political Action Committee (IAPAC), loosely modeled after similar organizations created by AIPAC (American Israeli Public Affairs Committee). Three of IAPAC’s board members came from the AIC’s leadership.
In their 1999 paper, Parsi and Namazi analyzed at length the techniques used by AIPAC, and suggested that the same approach should be taken to create an Iranian lobby in Washington :
“Creating similar types of seminars and intern opportunities to Iranian-American youth may not improve Iran-US relations in the short run, but it will help integrate the Iranian-American community into the political life of America . In the long run, a strong and active Iranian- American lobby, partly established through these seminars and by the participants of these programs, may serve to ensure that the US and Iran never find themselves in violent opposition to each other again.”
Trita Parsi has been reciting this comparison to the Israeli lobby since the late 1990’s, about the time that the High Council was formed in Tehran . At the beginning his tone was more contentious and resembled the mullah’s usual rhetoric, but more recently he has toned down his anti-Israeli remarks, at least in English.
The government-owned newspaper Aftab published an interview with Trita Parsi on December 28, 2006 that underscores Parsi’s efforts on behalf of the Iranian regime..
Translation: “The conflict between Iran and the West on Iran ’s nuclear file has entered a critical state. The government must now utilize all the possible resources to defend the national interest. In this, we have not paid enough attention to the potentially significant influence of the Iranian American society in moderating the extremist policies of the White House. In comparison of this untouched potential to the influence of the Jewish lobby in directing the policies of Washington in supporting Israel , we see the difference between what is and what could be.”
Siamak Namazi began sounding similar themes.:
“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.”
Not Lobbyists?
As Ney’s criminal bribery and lobbying fiasco became more public, NIAC’s president Trita Parsi began to downplay NIAC’s lobbying activities. (NIAC is registered as a 501 c3, to which certain legal restrictions apply.) Furthermore, being lobbied by a former aid would have added to Ney’s already complicated situation. Asked in 2005 whether his group lobbied the US Congress, Trita Parsi told an interviewer:
“Our group does not do any lobbying at all. We do not contact the Congressmen to support or oppose a bill.”
Since its creation, however, NIAC has strived to penetrate the US political system in accordance with the roadmap Namazi and Parsi established in 1999. As the Washington Post reported on June 25, 2006:
“The NIAC helped persuade a dozen conservative House members to sign a letter to President Bush earlier this month calling for unconditional negotiations with Iran 's regime.”
The external communications of Parsi and other NIAC leaders shed further light on NIAC’s lobbying activities.
“The NIAC members have educational and experimental knowledge on the lobbying process and politics in America .”
“.. we must establish connections on Capitol Hill to establish early-warning systems about proposed votes or bills that may oppose the best interests of Iranian-Americans.”
Bob Ney, Roy Coffee, and Dave DiStefano arranged numerous workshops, training classes, seminars and speeches in which they themselves and others with experience prepared members and affiliates of NIAC to lobby and influence Congress. Parsi, Namazi and Ney organized public gatherings and discrete and exclusive $1,000 per plate fundraiser events. They even developed a training manual for lobbyists, a copy of which was sent to this writer by a former NIAC member.
NIAC itself admits that “In 2002, Congressman Ney benefited from letters sent by Iranian-Americans through NIAC's Legislative Action Center in support of his resolution on US-Iran relations.”
Infiltrating Congress
Trita Parsi, Namazi and their backers fully intended to infiltrate the US Congress. One of the methods they boast of involves recruiting young Iranian Americans to serve as Congressional interns or pages by offering room, board and financial incentives. NIAC’s website brags of success stories in this venture.
NIAC claims to have drafted the young Iranian American Press Secretary for Rep. Marcy Kaptur to help in improving the lobbying skills of NIAC members and affiliates. Similarly, an Iranian American student in the University of Minnesota received a financial scholarship in his senior year and becomes an intern in Senator Norm Coleman’s (R-MN) Washington office. Another intern, a graduate of University of South Florida , was placed in Congressman Jim Davis’ (D-FL) Washington , D.C. office. Expanding the operation to penetrate the US political system, NIAC has now formally implemented a paid trainee program and is actively in search for unwary Iranian American youth.
Conclusion
Since the early 1990’s, Tehran has embarked on developing a sophisticated lobbying enterprise in the United States . Iran ’s government has devoted significant manpower and financial resources to this cause. This lobbying enterprise consists of a complex, intermingled web of entities and organizations with significant overlap of leadership, and heavy involvement of the notoriously mafia-like inner circles of the Iranian regime. Disguised as scholars, many of the former Iranian government officials reside in the US and constitute an important piece of the lobby machine. NIAC and its major figures, such as Bob Ney and Trita Parsi are effective nodes of Tehran ’s efforts to manipulate US policy toward self-serving ends.
Hassan Daioleslam is an independent researcher and writer who has worked closely with two experienced investigative reporters inside Iran to explore and expose Iran lobbying enterprise in the United States . |
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Oldman
Joined: 01 Feb 2005 Posts: 158 Location: USA
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Posted: Tue Jul 17, 2007 9:52 am Post subject: |
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Ba dorood:
Mr. Hassan Dai has compiled files showing how NIAC lobby works for Islamic Rip-off.
For review of the files, please visit http://www.hassandai.blogspot.com/ _________________ Ba sepas
Payandeh Iran |
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ViaHHakimi
Joined: 22 Jul 2004 Posts: 142
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Posted: Fri Aug 10, 2007 6:21 pm Post subject: NIAC Intimidation campaign |
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Ambassador Hashem Hakimi wrote: | Shameless behavior by (NIAC).
H. H. |
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Dr. Kenneth Timmerman wrote: | From: Kenneth Timmerman
Sent: Friday, August 10, 2007 6:00 PM
Subject: Timmerman/Frontpage: NIAC Intimidation campaign
For a copy with the hot links, go to the original (below) or visit my website, www.kentimmerman.com
Intimidation Campaign
By Kenneth R. Timmerman
FrontPageMagazine.com | 8/10/2007
What could the Council on American Islamic Relations (CAIR) and the National Iranian American Council (NIAC) possibly have in common?
CAIR founders had close ties to Hamas, Palestinian Sunni Islamic extremists. NIAC and its main spokesman, Trita Parsi, have become apologists for the regime in Tehran , which exports a rival Shiite brand of Islamic extremism.
Sunnis and Shias. We all know the story. They hate each other worse than Irish Catholics and Irish Protestants. Right?
Well, no. As I pointed out in Countdown to Crisis: the Coming Nuclear Showdown with Iran , Sunnis and Shias get along just fine when it comes to killing Americans and killing Jews.
Similarly, CAIR and NIAC get along just fine when it comes to opposing the Bush administration policies in Iraq , Iran , and the greater Middle East .
But they share much more than just an ideological affinity. They also share publicists in the redoubtable David Fenton.
Fenton Communications has repped the likes of Cindy Sheehan, moveon.org, and CAIR. And now, they have added NIAC to their client list, as this recent NIAC press release shows.
(One wonders how much of the grant monies NIAC boasts it has received from the National Endowment for Democracy, the Open Society Institute, the Kenbe Foundation, and the PARSA Community Foundation have gone to paying publicists, Congressional lobbyists, and fund-raisers).
And that’s not where the similarity between CAIR and NIAC stops. The two groups have also launched energetic campaigns to intimidate their critics and the organizations that help those critics air their views.
CAIR’s latest intimidation campaign against Robert Spencer has gotten considerable attention. NIAC’s campaign against its chief critic, Hassan Daioleslam, has not.
In April, Daioleslam published in these pages a detailed investigative piece that exposed the origins of NIAC and its ties back to Siamak Namazi, a member of the “regime’s inner circle” and a big player in the Iranian oil industry.
Their plan to establish an Iranian-American lobby “to create a balance between competing Middle Eastern lobbies” (specifically, AIPAC) dated from 1999, Daioleslam revealed, when Parsi and Namazi presented a paper on the subject at a conference in Cyprus sponsored by convicted felon Hossein Alikhani,
Ever since his release from a U.S. prison on charges of violating U.S. anti-terrorist sanctions, Alikhani has been seeking ways to get U.S. sanctions lifted. As a reward for his activism, he was recently awarded the deed to the U.S. embassy in Tehran by the Iranian regime.
One of the key goals of the new Iranian-American lobby recommended by Parsi and Namazi was – surprise-surprise – to convince Iranian-Americans that sanctions on Iran were “counterproductive.” They have worked relentlessly ever since to win converts to their cause, from former Rep. Bob Ney, the convicted felon from Ohio , to Rep. Dennis Kucinic, a Democrat presidential contender.
Daioleslam unearthed damning information on Trita Parsi cohort Siamak Namazi and exposed the role his Atieh companies in Tehran have played in brokering international investment in Iran ’s oil and gas industry.
NIAC responded with a statement on their website, accusing Daioleslam of being “a Marxist Mujahedin-e Khalq (MKO) supporter.”
(That, by the way, probably qualifies as slander, given that the MEK is on the U.S. list of International Terrorist Organizations, making membership a crime. Daioleslam eventually put out a statement denying any connection or sympathy with the MEK, noting that the only “proof” offered by NIAC was the fact that one of his articles was picked up by an MEK website.)
Rather than address the points raised by Daioleslam (and in an earlier article, by me), NIAC created straw man arguments, accusing the two of us of advocating for war with Iran .
The Voice of America’s Persian Service took interest, and sought to organize a face-to-face debate between Hassan Daioleslam and Trita Parsi.
Daioleslam accepted the challenge, but Parsi never responded, despite repeated invitations sent to him by VOA producers by phone and by email.
The show eventually aired in June without Parsi. By all accounts, it was a devastating blow to the pro-Tehran lobby.
On June 19, NIAC got an Iranian-American lawyer in Rockville , MD , Afshin Pishevar, to send a letter of complaint to the director of Voice of America, Danforth Austin, and to the VOA office of public affairs.
The lawyer claimed that “VOA made no effort to contact Dr. Parsi directly,” which VOA producers tell me is demonstrably false, and that the Roundtable discussion violated VOA’s charter which states that “views of a single party must be challenged by the interviewer if alternative opinions are unrepresented.”
In the very next sentence, the lawyer stated that the show’s host, Bijan Farhoodi, “made significant efforts to present his own understanding of the view of the missing party in the discussion, even though he had access to NIAC’s detailed rebuttal of Mr. Daioleslam’s false accusations to rely on. Although he briefly mentioned the rebuttal during the program, Mr. Farhoodi did not challenge a single accusation made by Mr. Daioleslam.”
Gee, let’s see if I understand this correctly. NIAC’s Trita Parsi ducks calls from VOA producers to appear on the show, then has a lawyer criticize VOA for not having him on.
And then the lawyer criticizes VOA further because they only “mentioned” NIAC’s rebuttal, which was no rebuttal at all and in fact failed to address any of the factual points raised by Daioleslam about the ties between NIAC founders and the Tehran regime.
But this is only the beginning. Following this letter, NIAC’s lawyer demanded that VOA essentially ban Daioleslam from the airwaves, which they did. To my knowledge, Daioleslam has not been invited back on VOA since June 10.
Once these bullying tactics paid off, NIAC then boasted on its website that it had “taken legal action” against VOA and “against proponents of US-Iran war who have waged a defamation campaign against NIAC.”
It was a stunning example of the Big Lie technique. NIAC has taken no legal action. It has filed no lawsuit. It has not gotten a U.S. court to issue a “cease and desist” order. And yet, that is the impression it seeks to create.
“NIAC Makes Progress in Defamation Case with VOA Persian,” its website blares. Many pro-regime bloggers have picked up on it and are spreading it across the blogosphere, just as they spread the earlier slander that Daioleslam (and me!) are MKO members.
The statements have also been picked up by a website notorious for being a mouthpiece of the Iranian intelligence ministry, MOIS.
The only problem is, there is no Defamation Case. Period. Nada.
As Omid Biniaz notes at the American Thinker, “Iranians would welcome the opportunity to hear Mr. Parsi, under oath, explain his relation with Tehran and a potpourri of felons close to them.”
Fat chance.
The real story here is about Voice of America. Why has VOA caved to a poorly-written letter from a lawyer who can’t afford an office in downtown Washington , DC , that is packed with hyperbole, misstatements, and outright lies?
Rather than allow groups such as NIAC to continue operating in the dark, it’s time to shine the light of day onto their activities.
And it’s time for Voice of America to show some backbone.
Kenneth R. Timmerman was nominated for the 2006 Nobel Peace Prize along with John Bolton for his work on Iran . He is Executive Director of the Foundation for Democracy in Iran , and author of Countdown to Crisis: the Coming Nuclear Showdown with Iran (Crown Forum: 2005).
Original: http://www.frontpagemag.com/Articles/Read.aspx?GUID=5BF85463-9D54-4999-890C-07B15CCDD780
--
Kenneth R. Timmerman
President, Middle East Data Project, Inc.
Author: Countdown to Crisis: The Coming Nuclear Showdown with Iran
Contributing editor: Newsmax.com
Tel: 301-946-2918
Reply to: timmerman.road@verizon.net
Website: www.KenTimmerman.com |
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cyrus Site Admin
![](http://www.activistchat.com/WTC/images/icyruswithclynder.gif)
Joined: 24 Jun 2003 Posts: 4993
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Posted: Fri Aug 10, 2007 7:29 pm Post subject: Re: NIAC Intimidation campaign |
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Shahriar Fathi wrote: | Shame .shame .shame
Trita NAPARSI and others in {NIAC}
They buying the time for terrorist regime in Iran .
{Iranian-American lobby} is shameless behavior
Death to Islamic republic of Iran . And whoever lobbying to keep them in power
Shahriar fathi |
ViaHHakimi wrote: | Ambassador Hashem Hakimi wrote: | Shameless behavior by (NIAC).
H. H. |
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Dr. Kenneth Timmerman wrote: | From: Kenneth Timmerman
Sent: Friday, August 10, 2007 6:00 PM
Subject: Timmerman/Frontpage: NIAC Intimidation campaign
For a copy with the hot links, go to the original (below) or visit my website, www.kentimmerman.com
Intimidation Campaign
By Kenneth R. Timmerman
FrontPageMagazine.com | 8/10/2007
What could the Council on American Islamic Relations (CAIR) and the National Iranian American Council (NIAC) possibly have in common?
CAIR founders had close ties to Hamas, Palestinian Sunni Islamic extremists. NIAC and its main spokesman, Trita Parsi, have become apologists for the regime in Tehran , which exports a rival Shiite brand of Islamic extremism.
Sunnis and Shias. We all know the story. They hate each other worse than Irish Catholics and Irish Protestants. Right?
Well, no. As I pointed out in Countdown to Crisis: the Coming Nuclear Showdown with Iran , Sunnis and Shias get along just fine when it comes to killing Americans and killing Jews.
Similarly, CAIR and NIAC get along just fine when it comes to opposing the Bush administration policies in Iraq , Iran , and the greater Middle East .
But they share much more than just an ideological affinity. They also share publicists in the redoubtable David Fenton.
Fenton Communications has repped the likes of Cindy Sheehan, moveon.org, and CAIR. And now, they have added NIAC to their client list, as this recent NIAC press release shows.
(One wonders how much of the grant monies NIAC boasts it has received from the National Endowment for Democracy, the Open Society Institute, the Kenbe Foundation, and the PARSA Community Foundation have gone to paying publicists, Congressional lobbyists, and fund-raisers).
And that’s not where the similarity between CAIR and NIAC stops. The two groups have also launched energetic campaigns to intimidate their critics and the organizations that help those critics air their views.
CAIR’s latest intimidation campaign against Robert Spencer has gotten considerable attention. NIAC’s campaign against its chief critic, Hassan Daioleslam, has not.
In April, Daioleslam published in these pages a detailed investigative piece that exposed the origins of NIAC and its ties back to Siamak Namazi, a member of the “regime’s inner circle” and a big player in the Iranian oil industry.
Their plan to establish an Iranian-American lobby “to create a balance between competing Middle Eastern lobbies” (specifically, AIPAC) dated from 1999, Daioleslam revealed, when Parsi and Namazi presented a paper on the subject at a conference in Cyprus sponsored by convicted felon Hossein Alikhani,
Ever since his release from a U.S. prison on charges of violating U.S. anti-terrorist sanctions, Alikhani has been seeking ways to get U.S. sanctions lifted. As a reward for his activism, he was recently awarded the deed to the U.S. embassy in Tehran by the Iranian regime.
One of the key goals of the new Iranian-American lobby recommended by Parsi and Namazi was – surprise-surprise – to convince Iranian-Americans that sanctions on Iran were “counterproductive.” They have worked relentlessly ever since to win converts to their cause, from former Rep. Bob Ney, the convicted felon from Ohio , to Rep. Dennis Kucinic, a Democrat presidential contender.
Daioleslam unearthed damning information on Trita Parsi cohort Siamak Namazi and exposed the role his Atieh companies in Tehran have played in brokering international investment in Iran ’s oil and gas industry.
NIAC responded with a statement on their website, accusing Daioleslam of being “a Marxist Mujahedin-e Khalq (MKO) supporter.”
(That, by the way, probably qualifies as slander, given that the MEK is on the U.S. list of International Terrorist Organizations, making membership a crime. Daioleslam eventually put out a statement denying any connection or sympathy with the MEK, noting that the only “proof” offered by NIAC was the fact that one of his articles was picked up by an MEK website.)
Rather than address the points raised by Daioleslam (and in an earlier article, by me), NIAC created straw man arguments, accusing the two of us of advocating for war with Iran .
The Voice of America’s Persian Service took interest, and sought to organize a face-to-face debate between Hassan Daioleslam and Trita Parsi.
Daioleslam accepted the challenge, but Parsi never responded, despite repeated invitations sent to him by VOA producers by phone and by email.
The show eventually aired in June without Parsi. By all accounts, it was a devastating blow to the pro-Tehran lobby.
On June 19, NIAC got an Iranian-American lawyer in Rockville , MD , Afshin Pishevar, to send a letter of complaint to the director of Voice of America, Danforth Austin, and to the VOA office of public affairs.
The lawyer claimed that “VOA made no effort to contact Dr. Parsi directly,” which VOA producers tell me is demonstrably false, and that the Roundtable discussion violated VOA’s charter which states that “views of a single party must be challenged by the interviewer if alternative opinions are unrepresented.”
In the very next sentence, the lawyer stated that the show’s host, Bijan Farhoodi, “made significant efforts to present his own understanding of the view of the missing party in the discussion, even though he had access to NIAC’s detailed rebuttal of Mr. Daioleslam’s false accusations to rely on. Although he briefly mentioned the rebuttal during the program, Mr. Farhoodi did not challenge a single accusation made by Mr. Daioleslam.”
Gee, let’s see if I understand this correctly. NIAC’s Trita Parsi ducks calls from VOA producers to appear on the show, then has a lawyer criticize VOA for not having him on.
And then the lawyer criticizes VOA further because they only “mentioned” NIAC’s rebuttal, which was no rebuttal at all and in fact failed to address any of the factual points raised by Daioleslam about the ties between NIAC founders and the Tehran regime.
But this is only the beginning. Following this letter, NIAC’s lawyer demanded that VOA essentially ban Daioleslam from the airwaves, which they did. To my knowledge, Daioleslam has not been invited back on VOA since June 10.
Once these bullying tactics paid off, NIAC then boasted on its website that it had “taken legal action” against VOA and “against proponents of US-Iran war who have waged a defamation campaign against NIAC.”
It was a stunning example of the Big Lie technique. NIAC has taken no legal action. It has filed no lawsuit. It has not gotten a U.S. court to issue a “cease and desist” order. And yet, that is the impression it seeks to create.
“NIAC Makes Progress in Defamation Case with VOA Persian,” its website blares. Many pro-regime bloggers have picked up on it and are spreading it across the blogosphere, just as they spread the earlier slander that Daioleslam (and me!) are MKO members.
The statements have also been picked up by a website notorious for being a mouthpiece of the Iranian intelligence ministry, MOIS.
The only problem is, there is no Defamation Case. Period. Nada.
As Omid Biniaz notes at the American Thinker, “Iranians would welcome the opportunity to hear Mr. Parsi, under oath, explain his relation with Tehran and a potpourri of felons close to them.”
Fat chance.
The real story here is about Voice of America. Why has VOA caved to a poorly-written letter from a lawyer who can’t afford an office in downtown Washington , DC , that is packed with hyperbole, misstatements, and outright lies?
Rather than allow groups such as NIAC to continue operating in the dark, it’s time to shine the light of day onto their activities.
And it’s time for Voice of America to show some backbone.
Kenneth R. Timmerman was nominated for the 2006 Nobel Peace Prize along with John Bolton for his work on Iran . He is Executive Director of the Foundation for Democracy in Iran , and author of Countdown to Crisis: the Coming Nuclear Showdown with Iran (Crown Forum: 2005).
Original: http://www.frontpagemag.com/Articles/Read.aspx?GUID=5BF85463-9D54-4999-890C-07B15CCDD780
--
Kenneth R. Timmerman
President, Middle East Data Project, Inc.
Author: Countdown to Crisis: The Coming Nuclear Showdown with Iran
Contributing editor: Newsmax.com
Tel: 301-946-2918
Reply to: timmerman.road@verizon.net
Website: www.KenTimmerman.com |
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cyrus Site Admin
![](http://www.activistchat.com/WTC/images/icyruswithclynder.gif)
Joined: 24 Jun 2003 Posts: 4993
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Posted: Thu Aug 16, 2007 3:48 pm Post subject: Trita Parsa opposes sanctions on the IRGC |
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Kenneth R. Timmerman wrote: |
Subject: Trita Parsa opposes sanctions on the IRGC
Dear friends,
I thought you might be interested in this quote from Trita Parsi, Exec. Director of NIAC (National Iranian American Council) that appeared in an article by Robin Wright in today’s Washington Post on the designation of the IRGC as a terrorist entity. The article is entitled “As US Steps up Pressure on Iran, Aftereffects Worry Allies.”
“While this step can deal a blow to efforts to utilize diplomacy with Iran to stabilize Iraq, the long-term effects can be even more decisive by further entrenching U.S.-Iran relations in a paradigm of enmity.”
Beneath the gobbley-gook, Trita is saying that taking action against the Rev. Guards is bad and we shouldn’t even think about it.
Bad because now the Rev. Guards won’t help the US to solve the problems in Iraq caused by the Rev. Guards themselves (gee, thanks), and bad because it will hurt the feelings of Iran’s radical mullah leaders (horrors!)
At least we now know without any ambiguity whatsoever where Mr. Parsi stands!
Best regards,
Ken Timmerman
--
Kenneth R. Timmerman
President, Middle East Data Project, Inc.
Author: Countdown to Crisis: The Coming Nuclear Showdown with Iran
Contributing editor: Newsmax.com
Tel: 301-946-2918
Reply to: timmerman.road@verizon.net
Website: www.KenTimmerman.com |
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ViaDrEtebar
Joined: 03 Aug 2004 Posts: 91
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Posted: Thu Aug 23, 2007 4:16 pm Post subject: Creation of NIAC |
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Iran’s Oil Mafia
By Hassan Daioleslam
FrontPageMagazine.com | 4/16/2007
Source: http://www.frontpagemag.com/Articles/Read.aspx?GUID=%7BB30E945B-5F1F-4A57-A7AA-F4975D12FC4C%7D
Robert William (Bob) Ney is a current federal prisoner and a former Ohio Congressman from 1995 until November 3, 2006. On October 13, 2006 Ney pled guilty to charges of conspiracy and making false statements in relation to the Jack Abramoff lobbying and bribery scandal. Ney reportedly received bribes from Abramoff, other lobbyists, and two foreign businessmen - a felon and an arms dealer - in exchange for using his position to advance their interests.
Conspicuously missing from this dossier of disservice to the country was Ney’s assistance in the creation of a Washington-based lobbying enterprise for the Iranian theocratic regime, The National Iranian-American Council (NIAC). NIAC is part of an extensive US lobbying web that objectively furthers the interests of the Islamic Republic of Iran. This article will address the creation of NIAC, Tehran’s role, NIAC’s connection to Iran’s oil mafia, and NIAC attempts to penetrate US political system.
Creation of NIAC
The National Iranian-American Council (NIAC) was founded thanks to the efforts of four non Iranian-Americans: Roy Coffee, Dave DiStefano, Rep. Bob Ney, and Trita Parsi. Coffee and DiStefano, both Washington lobbyists, were investigated by the Justice Department for arranging a trip to London for Bob Ney, where he met a Syrian arms dealer and convicted felon involved in a conspiracy to circumvent sanctions to sell US-made aircraft parts to Tehran .
Roy Coffee sent a letter to the Dallas Morning News in February 2006 to justify his relationship with the two London-based felons. Part of the letter discussed the founding of NIAC:
"Back in the spring or summer of 2002, a good friend of mine from law school, Darius Baghai, had just returned from visiting relatives in Iran for the first time since his family left before the revolution. He spoke with me about how the economy of Iran was humming …….From this, I took Darius in to visit with Mr. Ney. What was to be a 15 minute meeting became a 1 1/2 hour meeting as they spoke passionately about their hopes for the Iranian people. They also spoke in Farsi a great deal - I'm sure talking smack about me. From that meeting, Darius, Dave and I began to work with Trita Parsi, another Iranian-American to try to form a political action committee of Iranian-Americans to pursue a strategy of normalization of relations between the two countries…. The 4 of us worked very hard for about 9 months to form this committee."
At the time, Trita Parsi was a Swedish-Iranian graduate student in his early twenties, best known for ties to Iran 's ambassador in Sweden . A successful self-promoter, he soon attached himself as a part-time aide to Congressman Ney before he was appointed president of NIAC.
The New Lobby
NIAC's predecessor, the American-Iranian Council (AIC), was established in the 1990s with backing from multinational oil companies. For many years, it spear-headed pro-Tehran lobbying effort in the US .
AIC president Houshang Amirahmadi had been an active pro-Tehran player since early 1980s. While residing in US, he was also a presidential candidate in Iran 's elections, and officially collaborated with different Iranian institutions and notably the foreign ministry. In 1999 and 2000 Trita Parsi was helping Amirahmadi to organize lobbying events in Washington .
In 2001, the pro-Iran lobby in the United States became intensely active to prevent the renewal of the Iran Libya Sanctions Act (ILSA), and to lift U.S. sanctions on Iran . Despite extraordinary pressure from the lobby, ILSA passed overwhelmingly.
Prior to his imprisonment in March 2007, Bob Ney led Congressional efforts to defeat ILSA and initiate Tehran-friendly policies in concert with AIC. Disappointed and angered by the ILSA vote, Ney began to plan for the next battle of the war.
"The ILSA vote doesn't look very promising, but that doesn't mean the struggle should stop on this entire issue. It is a matter of education and re-education and people getting together and forming a citizen's lobby to make sure that members of Congress and their offices are educated on this issue," Ney told AIC in a June 2001 speech.
While Ney was hard at work "forming a citizen's lobby," Trita Parsi claimed that the majority of lawmakers voted against their true wills. In a tone apologetic to Tehran , he expressed his hope that the Iranian regime understood that he and his colleagues had worked hard to prevent this result:
"Hopefully, Tehran will recognize that an honest attempt was made to defeat or at least weaken the sanctions. The call for a review and Speaker Hastert's pledge to insist on Congressional action based on the review must also be interpreted by Tehran as a step in the right direction" (Iran Analysis July 2001 Peyvand Iran News)
This failure to block the renewal of ILSA in 2001 marked the start of a new era for the pro-Iran lobby in the United States. The lobbyists recognized that they must broadly reach out to Iranian-Americans.NIAC was created to put those plans in motion.
Trita Parsi was the regime's trusted man within the new network. Tehran's faith in Parsi was so profound that in 2003 when Iran decided to send a highly secret proposal for negotiations to the White House, Parsi was called on to arrange the delivery of the message through Bob Ney to Karl Rove. Parsi, moreover, was among the few chosen men (along with Mahallati , Iran 's former ambassador to UN) to present the results of a shady Tehran-friendly poll of the Iranian population which indicated the popularity of Iran 's nuclear program.
Trita Parsi and the Regime's Inner Circle
During the eight years of Rafsanjani's presidency, which ended in 1997, the Iranian regime had attempted without success to attract the Iranian Diaspora to its cause. Khatami's presidency recharged Tehran 's efforts. With the Supreme Leader's direct involvement, the High Council for Iranian Compatriots Overseas was created in 2000. The President heads the Council, and the Foreign Minister serves as its deputy director. The Ministry of Intelligence and the Ministry of Culture and Islamic Guidance collaborate to implement the decisions of the council.
The objective was to create a network of organizations to infiltrate and seemingly represent the Iranian community abroad, and promote policies favorable to the Iranian government. Tehran anticipated that this strategy would neutralize opposition activities abroad and legitimize the new lobby.
State-sanctioned Iranian newspapers started a campaign to promote Trita Parsi and NIAC. Pro-government publications outside Iran followed suit. The former head of the Iran interest in Washington, Ambassador Faramarze Fathnejad, was thrilled with the efforts of Trita Parsi and NIAC, and underlined "the importance of relation with Iranian organizations in the U.S. and specially pointed to NIAC and his young leader who is a consultant to CNN and has been very successful in his efforts." The Iran Ambassador even claimed 20,000 strong membership for NIAC (while only 150 is claimed by NIAC itself)!
But token rhetorical support would not alone turn an inexperienced graduate student and a corrupt Washington politician into a lobbying enterprise. Entities with ample financial resources and direct access to Iran 's top leaders had to enter the scene. This is where Siamak Namazi, an important figures of this new lobbying enterprise and a prominent member of the Iranian oil Mafia, enters the scene.
Trita Parsi and Namazi worked closely on developing the details of a grand plan to create an Iranian-American "Citizen's Lobby." They traveled to Iran together They organized joint conferences and meetings. In 1999, they co-authored a seminal paper, that provided the roadmap for the organization that later became NIAC. 24
Namazi, along with his sister Pari and brother Babak, control the Atieh enterprise in Iran and its three sister companies Atieh Roshan, Atieh Bahar and Atieh Associates, as well as numerous other direct and indirect partnerships, including Azar Energy, Menas companies in England , Atieh Dadeh Pardaz, FTZ Corporate services and MES Middle East Strategies.. Particularly noteworthy is the fact that Baquer Namazi (their father) is the Chairman of Hamyaran, identified by the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars as a "resource center" in Tehran for Iranian non-governmental organizations (NGOs).
Atieh claims to be a "fully private strategic consulting firm that assists companies better understand the Iranian market, develop business and stay ahead of [the] competition." People familiar with the oil industry in Iran understand the coded language, After all, rulers in every country in the Middle East use outside consultants to negotiate the discrete terms of lucrative oil contracts.
Atieh's customers include the foreign corporations who wish to do business in Iran . One Atieh Bahar customer, Norway 's Statoil, has been publicly identified as a participant in a scheme to bribe Iranian government officials by the US Securities and Exchange Commission and the Department of Justice. A number of high officials in the company were fired and the company had to pay tens of millions of dollars in penalties to the US and Norwegian governments for "payments to an Iranian official in 2002 and 2003 in order to induce him to use his influence to obtain the award to Statoil of a contract to develop phases 6, 7 and 8 of the Iranian South Pars gas field."
The most recent debacle of Atieh enterprise was in March 2007 when the CEO of the French oil company Total SA was charged with having bribed senior Iranian officials to secure contracts. Total is a major customer of the Namazi's Atieh enterprise.
Tehran 's trust in Namazi is further evidenced by the fact that his company provides the network and computer services for almost all Iranian banks, the Majles (parliament), and other important institutions. Namazi's groups monitor nearly all Iranian economic or political activities and have access to the country's most sensitive data. This is a clear indication of his prominent place inside the inner circle of power in Tehran .
While representing Tehran , Namazi, disguised as a scholar travels to the US to seemingly pursue academic activities . He succeeded so well that the Congressionally-funded National Endowment for Democracy awarded him a Reagan-Fascell Democracy Fellowship in 2005.
This link between the Iranian oil Mafia and "scholarly" pursuits in the US is hardly isolated. Three former Iranian deputy foreign ministers currently live in Boston posing as "scholars": Mohammad Mahallati who was also the Iranian ambassador to the UN in the late 1980s, Farhad Atai and, Abbas Maleki. In addition to his diplomatic past, Maleki has been one of the most important figures within the Iranian oil Mafia.
The Roadmap
In 1999, Parsi and Namazi presented a joint paper titled "Iranian-Americans: The bridge between two nations" at a conference organized by the Iranian government in Cypress . This report contains the manifesto and the roadmap for the new Iranian lobby in the US . The authors argue that "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). The pillars of the road map were:
· To have the appearance of a citizen's lobby
· To mimic the Jewish lobby in the US
· To impede Iranian opposition activities
· To infiltrate the US political system
· To break the taboo of working with the Iran 's cleric rulers for the Iranian Diaspora
· To improve the image of the Iran 's government abroad24.
In their report, Namazi and Parsi acknowledged that problems of organizing a pro-regime lobby within the Iranian-American community:
"This group's role has not been utilized any where close to its potential, however, for several reasons: A good portion of them were against the IRI [Islamic Republic of Iran], therefore would not do anything to help."
"The point is, [Iranian Americans] were not about to form a lobby group that would benefit the establishment in Tehran , or benefit the Iranian-Americans themselves as a community, nor was it for the most part interested in forming a pressure group against the Islamic Republic."
This was also underlined by Roy Coffee, one of the NIAC's founders:
"We [NIAC's founders] found that most Iranians do not want to get involved in politics because of their experiences in Iran during and after the revolution. They have come to this country to make a better life for themselves and their children and don't want to get involved."
The lack of participation by the Iranian American community in this lobby has been overcome with a sophisticated machine of professional lobbyists and "friendly" circles who favor a rapprochement with the Iranian regime.
Tehran 's Advice: Mimic Jewish Lobby in Washington
One of the hallmarks of the new lobby was its desire to rival the "Israeli Lobby" in the United States . This aspiration led to the creation of the Iranian American Political Action Committee (IAPAC), loosely modeled after similar organizations created by AIPAC (American Israeli Public Affairs Committee). Three of IAPAC's board members came from the AIC's leadership.
In their 1999 paper, Parsi and Namazi analyzed at length the techniques used by AIPAC, and suggested that the same approach should be taken to create an Iranian lobby in Washington:
"Creating similar types of seminars and intern opportunities to Iranian-American youth may not improve Iran-US relations in the short run, but it will help integrate the Iranian-American community into the political life of America. In the long run, a strong and active Iranian- American lobby, partly established through these seminars and by the participants of these programs, may serve to ensure that the US and Iran never find themselves in violent opposition to each other again."
Trita Parsi has been reciting this comparison to the Israeli lobby since the late 1990's, about the time that the High Council was formed in Tehran . At the beginning his tone was more contentious and resembled the mullah's usual rhetoric, but more recently he has toned down his anti-Israeli remarks, at least in English.
The government-owned newspaper Aftab published an interview with Trita Parsi on December 28, 2006 that underscores Parsi's efforts on behalf of the Iranian regime..
Translation: "The conflict between Iran and the West on Iran 's nuclear file has entered a critical state. The government must now utilize all the possible resources to defend the national interest. In this, we have not paid enough attention to the potentially significant influence of the Iranian American society in moderating the extremist policies of the White House. In comparison of this untouched potential to the influence of the Jewish lobby in directing the policies of Washington in supporting Israel , we see the difference between what is and what could be."
Siamak Namazi began sounding similar themes.:
"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."
Not Lobbyists?
As Ney's criminal bribery and lobbying fiasco became more public, NIAC's president Trita Parsi began to downplay NIAC's lobbying activities. (NIAC is registered as a 501 c3, to which certain legal restrictions apply.) Furthermore, being lobbied by a former aid would have added to Ney's already complicated situation. Asked in 2005 whether his group lobbied the US Congress, Trita Parsi told an interviewer:
"Our group does not do any lobbying at all. We do not contact the Congressmen to support or oppose a bill."
Since its creation, however, NIAC has strived to penetrate the US political system in accordance with the roadmap Namazi and Parsi established in 1999. As the Washington Post reported on June 25, 2006:
"The NIAC helped persuade a dozen conservative House members to sign a letter to President Bush earlier this month calling for unconditional negotiations with Iran 's regime."
The external communications of Parsi and other NIAC leaders shed further light on NIAC's lobbying activities.
"The NIAC members have educational and experimental knowledge on the lobbying process and politics in America . "
".. we must establish connections on Capitol Hill to establish early-warning systems about proposed votes or bills that may oppose the best interests of Iranian-Americans."
Bob Ney, Roy Coffee, and Dave DiStefano arranged numerous workshops, training classes, seminars and speeches in which they themselves and others with experience prepared members and affiliates of NIAC to lobby and influence Congress. Parsi, Namazi and Ney organized public gatherings and discrete and exclusive $1,000 per plate fundraiser events. They even developed a training manual for lobbyists, a copy of which was sent to this writer by a former NIAC member.
NIAC itself admits that "In 2002, Congressman Ney benefited from letters sent by Iranian-Americans through NIAC's Legislative Action Center in support of his resolution on US-Iran relations."
Infiltrating Congress
Trita Parsi, Namazi and their backers fully intended to infiltrate the US Congress. One of the methods they boast of involves recruiting young Iranian Americans to serve as Congressional interns or pages by offering room, board and financial incentives. NIAC's website brags of success stories in this venture.
NIAC claims to have drafted the young Iranian American Press Secretary for Rep. Marcy Kaptur to help in improving the lobbying skills of NIAC members and affiliates. Similarly, an Iranian American student in the University of Minnesota received a financial scholarship in his senior year and becomes an intern in Senator Norm Coleman's (R-MN) Washington office. Another intern, a graduate of University of South Florida , was placed in Congressman Jim Davis' (D-FL) Washington , D.C. office. Expanding the operation to penetrate the US political system, NIAC has now formally implemented a paid trainee program and is actively in search for unwary Iranian American youth.
Conclusion
Since the early 1990's, Tehran has embarked on developing a sophisticated lobbying enterprise in the United States . Iran 's government has devoted significant manpower and financial resources to this cause. This lobbying enterprise consists of a complex, intermingled web of entities and organizations with significant overlap of leadership, and heavy involvement of the notoriously mafia-like inner circles of the Iranian regime. Disguised as scholars, many of the former Iranian government officials reside in the US and constitute an important piece of the lobby machine. NIAC and its major figures, such as Bob Ney and Trita Parsi are effective nodes of Tehran 's efforts to manipulate US policy toward self-serving ends.
Hassan Daioleslam is an independent researcher and writer who has worked closely with two experienced investigative reporters inside Iran to explore and expose Iran lobbying enterprise in the United States . |
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