Iran Lobby

Exposing the Activities of the lobbies and appeasers of the Mullah's Dictatorship ruling Iran

NIAC Trying to Gain Influence On U.S. Congress

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NIAC affiliates working as staffers to some of the U.S. Congress representatives.

Recently an Anglo-Iranian activist and news editor, Mr. Hanif Jazayeri, through lights on the activities of the Iranian regime’s main lobby, NIAC’s activities in the U.S. Congress attempting to influence the US policy towards Iran, in favor of the Iranian regime.

Lately, a group of representatives sent a letter to the U.S. Treasury Secretary, Steven Mnuchin, calling for sanction’s relief for Iran. They also questioned the designation of the Iranian regime’s Central Bank, which is the main source of financing the IRGC, which is behind the Iranian regime’s terrorist activities and regional aggressions. The move did not seem a usual one, particularly at a time that a recent report by Reuters speaks of a massacre of at least 1,500 protesters during the November nationwide unrest in Iran.

“About 1,500 people were killed during less than two weeks of unrest that started on Nov. 15. The toll, provided to Reuters by three Iranian interior ministry officials, included at least 17 teenagers and about 400 women as well as some members of the security forces and police.” Reuters reported.

“The toll of 1,500 is significantly higher than figures from international human rights groups and the United States,” Reuters added.

Apparently the letter by a small group of representatives did not sound right to Hanif Jazayeri, and after digging into the issue, he expressed his concerns in a thread on his Twitter account. Jazayeri proposed that “the letter was probably drafted by Iran’s mullahs”. The proposition was due to his finding that several of the NIAC affiliates are now working at the offices of various U.S. representatives.

Tyler O’Neil, a senior Editor on PJ Media, expressing concern over the role of the Iranian lobby on the letter writes:

“An organization long described as a front group for the Iran regime sponsored the letter and has embedded staffers with many of the letter’s supporters in Congress, including Reps. Barbara Lee (D-Calif.), Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.), and Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich.).”

Referring to Mr. Jazayeri’s thread on Twitter who had originally exposed the case, O’Neil asks:

“Is Iran’s regime quietly infiltrating Congress?” M. Hanif Jazayeri, news editor at Free Iran, asked on Twitter. He pointed out that many of these congresswomen hired current or former staffers with the National Iranian-American Council (NIAC), an organization with many links to Iran’s regime and which Iran state-media has described as “Iran’s lobby” in the U.S.

Jazayeri added that NIAC “has a mole in Congress. [Samira Damavandi] is now a permanent Legislative Assistant in the Office of [Barbara Lee]. That could potentially give her (& the regime) access to US citizens’ data.”

The Gateway Pundit, also wrote a piece that was widely shared on the social media, reminding how  the Iranian lobbies, work to lift the sanctions, while “At the Same Time Mullahs In Iran Are Killing Democracy Protesters in the Streets”.

In return NIAC, reacted furiously and started a series of attacks on the activist (Hanif Jazayeri) who had exposed their plot, and were frustrated about the revelation.

In the meantime, another activist on social media, Heshmat Alavi a writer and human rights activist, wrote a thread, in which he exposed what NIAC and its affiliates have been doing to infiltrate the U.S. Congress and impact the U.S. policy towards Iran.

The discussions on the issue continues on social media. Adjunct professor at Notre Dame University and Lawyer, Professor Margot Cleveland, calls for a journalist with an international outlet to do a report on the concerning news:

Staff writer

Important Day for Voice of Opposition to Iran Regime

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Maryam Rajavi, leader of the Iranian opposition, testifying before the US Congress via video conference

Maryam Rajavi, leader of the Iranian opposition, testifying before the US Congress via video conference

The House Foreign Affairs Committee’s Subcommittee on Terrorism, Nonproliferation and Trade held a hearing on Capitol Hill on the rise and threat posed by ISIS. That in and of itself is not earthshattering news since elected officials have debated heatedly how to address the growing pandemic that is extremist Islamic groups such as ISIS, Boko Haram and the Houthis.

hat was significant was the witness list of speakers because on it was Mrs. Maryam Rajavi, the president-elect of the National Council of Resistance of Iran, a leading Iranian dissident group, who made an appearance via videoconference. It was an important appearance because it represented a key opportunity for the strongest voice of the largest grassroots dissident group to the regime to address Congress on the links between ISIS and Iran.

As Rep. Brad Sherman (D-CA) noted in his comments, the NCRI has proven instrumental in the past in revealing secrets the Iran regime has sought to keep hidden from the outside world such as the secret Natanz nuclear research facility.

Mrs. Rajavi was given the opportunity by the subcommittee because NCRI members have been on the ground in Iran and Iraq having vast knowledge of the situation as the main opposition to the regime in Iran and given the role of the Iranian regime in all crisis in the region. Because there are literally hundreds of thousands of people displaced or brutalized by ISIS and militia forces controlled and directed by Iran’s mullahs, the NCRI has shown itself to be very knowledgeable regarding the regime’s activities in the region.

In her comments to the subcommittee, Mrs. Rajavi explained the origins of ISIS, such as the funding and training of ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi in Iran, including even a doctorate degree in Islamic jurisprudence from Baghdad Islamic University, along with Iranian support for other key ISIS founders who arose out of the war fought against U.S. and coalition forces during the invasion of Iraq and the sectarian civil war in Syria that Iran was backing.

Mrs. Rajavi dubbed the Iran regime as the “godfather” of the Islamic State militant group and noted that “the ultimate solution to this problem is regime change.”

She went on to explain the core issue linking the Iran regime and the Islamic State was the perpetuation of violent and extremist Islamic teachings which provided a template of terror, brutality and abuse for terror groups to follow.

And in a clear warning to Representatives in attendance, she urged caution in approving any nuclear deal that rewarded Iran with economic relief without concrete proof of dismantling of its nuclear program.

“None of the sanctions should be lifted before an agreement has been signed that effectively and definitively denies the mullahs the bomb,” Mrs. Rajavi said. “Otherwise, the regime will spend billions of unfrozen assets to buy weapons, including advanced missiles from Russia.”

Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee (D-TX) praised Ms. Rajavi’s appearance as well and called the session “a historic hearing,” notable for bringing Iran’s opposition into official discourse.

That, more than anything else, was what the Iran regime’s lobbying and PR machine feared the most. The idea that a moderate, Muslim woman, leading a group of dissidents to Iran’s mullahs, would actually be able to speak before the greatest legislative body in the world and tell simply and matter-of-factly of the horrors and abuses being visited on thousands of her fellow Iranian citizens.

It is even more laughable when you hear of some of the complaints voiced by these regime apologists who apply one standard to the NCRI in denouncing it, yet in another breath argue for open and honest dialogue and trust with the Iran regime that has a three decade history of kidnapping, targeting, attacking and killing thousands of American military and civilian personnel in places such as Lebanon, Afghanistan, Syria, Iraq and elsewhere.

The fact that Mrs. Rajavi was able to speak represents a small, but historic step in allowing the voices of those most oppressed to finally have a voice and a forum.

By Laura Carnahan