A New Congressional Scandal: On the scale of 1-10 for Washington scandals, the CAIR propaganda event in the U.S. Congress last March was probably a 2. But the precedent it set could be very bad.

Now another group - the National Iranian American Council (NIAC), a CAIR clone and part of the appeasement lobby for Ahmadinejad’s tyrannical Iranian regime, is planning a similar propaganda event in the U.S. Congress on July 26, 2007 in the Rayburn House Office Building. NIAC’s goal is to “freeze” U.S. policy before it can impose sanctions, support dissidents or take any military action to stop Iran’s headlong descent to nuclear capability.

Who is sponsoring this Iranian interest group’s meeting to lobby Congress? Can the Republican leadership summon the will to oppose them? Is this who you want influencing your Congressman?

The CAIR Precedent: Here’s what happened with CAIR. On March 12, 2007, The House Republican Conference called on House Speaker Nancy Pelosi to cancel the use of a Congressional Conference room by the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR). Congressman Bill Pascrell (D-NJ) had booked the room for a 90 minute press conference. The House Republican Conference referred to CAIR as “terrorist apologists.”

Just to review why the House Republican Conference protested: CAIR is an unindicted co-conspirator in a trial over terrorist financing that started yesterday in Dallas, Texas. CAIR is criticized for its historical links to Hamas, and for its refusal to disavow terrorism carried out by Hamas and Hezbollah. CAIR has also been criticized for refusing to protest the racism, female apartheid and anti-semitism practiced by CAIR’s financial backers ($50 million in 5 years just for Public Relations) in Saudi Arabia and the UAE. As Representative Jeb Hensarling (R-TX), Chairman of the Republican Study Committee said:

“Meeting in the United States Capitol is a privilege. Our nation is actively engaged in a Global Ward on Terror, and we should never reward those who, given the opportunity, fail to condemn terrorist activities.”

Nonetheless, Pelosi granted CAIR that privilege and they happily held their meeting to bash the U.S.: “Global Attitudes on Islam-West Relations: U.S. Policy Implications.”

Will the House Republican leadership stand up to NIAC treating Congress like their personal Motel 6 where they can book a room at will to buy time for the murderous regime in Iran?

NIAC Books A Room: The House Republican Conference has one week to block the National Iranian American Council (NIAC), from holding a July 26, 2007 two and a half hour disinformation conference in room B 369, Rayburn House Office Building: “Human Rights in Iran and US Foreign Policy Options.”

NIAC presents itself as an educational non-partisan group, taking both sides of any issue, a slightly more sophisticated version of CAIR. But a closer look shows that they fit somewhere between open apologists for Ahmadinejad and a regime defense team running interference to prevent any U.S. actions against Iran. NIAC simply takes the Baker-Hamilton “realist” position to the logical conclusion of U.S. surrender: that the U.S. should appease Iran whenever possible, negotiate on Iranian terms all issues of interest to the Mullahs, and never support Iranian democracy advocates or any internal critics of the Mullahs’ regime. Just look at the NIAC speakers for their July 26 “educational” meeting to influence your Congressman:

Dr. John Tirman (right), MIT and author of 100 ways America is Screwing Up the World, who has dismissed Iran’s support for insurgents in Iraq as a “Republican Confection”, and rationalizes away any evidence of the regime’s efforts at acquiring nuclear weapons.

Joe Stork (left), Human Rights Watch, formerly of Middle East Research and Information Project, where Stork distributed literature in support of the PFLP and Fatah.

Laura Secor, New Yorker Magazine, a proclaimed supporter of the internal Iranian opposition who argues that the best thing America can do to help Iranian democratic activists is nothing.

Alex Arriaga, Amnesty International

They also have enough clout to at least invite senior advisor for the State Department David Denehy.

NIAC presents a semblance of moderation by agreeing that the current regime engages in human rights violations, but they make sure that the blame goes where it can hurt the Iranian regime the least, and the U.S. and Iranian dissidents the most - the Bush administration.

As reported in Time magazine, “Did the U.S. incite Iran’s Crackdown” citing Trita Parsi, NIAC President (left):

“Parsi says that, in the past, individual democracy activists have been arrested without a pretext, but that the Bush Administration’s program gave the regime an opportunity to go after as many as 10,000 non-government organizations and their memberships.”

NIAC says Iranian Americans are too successful for their own good : NIAC’s complaint about Iranian Americans (like CAIR’s about American Muslims), and the rationale for NIAC’s very existence, is that Iranian Americans assimilate to American culture, are better educated than most Americans, make more money than most Americans, are successful and mostly too smart to support the regime back home or a self-appointed grievance lobby in Washington, D.C.:

Iranian-Americans have achieved extraordinary levels of professional and economic success in the United States, consistently ranking among the highest in most surveys of immigrant education and affluence….the Iranian-American impact on our civil society - on our politics, our media, our advocacy organizations, our social institutions - is a less impressive story….Our job is to, through education, help Iranian-Americans to get more involved in US politics, media and civic life….

For NIAC, being an “advocacy organization” means pressuring Congress and the White House to eliminate or freeze economic sanctions and to stop any support for Iranian democracy supporters or dissidents. They’re wrong about Iranian Americans of course: those thousands of successful Iranian-Americans are involved in U.S. politics as citizens, as voters, through professional and civic associations. They’re just not involved in a way that makes them a malleable constituency for a handful of elite politicans in Tehran or Washington, D.C.

Iran Is a State Sponsor of Terrorism: Keep in mind that on April 30, 2007, the State Department Office of the Coordinator for Counterterrorism designated Iran as a state sponsor of terror:

Iran remained the most active state sponsor of terrorism. Its Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) and Ministry of Intelligence and Security (MOIS) were directly involved in the planning and support of terrorist acts and continued to exhort a variety of groups, especially Palestinian groups with leadership cadres in Syria and Lebanese Hizballah, to use terrorism in pursuit of their goals.

Iran maintained a high-profile role in encouraging anti-Israeli terrorist activity, rhetorically, operationally, and financially. Supreme Leader Khamenei and President Ahmadi-Nejad praised Palestinian terrorist operations, and Iran provided Lebanese Hizballah and Palestinian terrorist groups - notably HAMAS, Palestinian Islamic Jihad, the al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades, and the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine-General Command - with extensive funding, training, and weapons.

Iran continued to play a destabilizing role in Iraq, which appeared to be inconsistent with its stated objectives regarding stability in Iraq. Iran provided guidance and training to select Iraqi Shia political groups, and weapons and training to Shia militant groups to enable anti-Coalition attacks. Iranian government forces have been responsible for at least some of the increasing lethality of anti-Coalition attacks by providing Shia militants with the capability to build IEDs with explosively formed projectiles similar to those developed by Iran and Lebanese Hizballah. The Iranian Revolutionary Guard was linked to armor-piercing explosives that resulted in the deaths of Coalition Forces. The Revolutionary Guard, along with Lebanese Hizballah, implemented training programs for Iraqi militants in the construction and use of sophisticated IED technology. These individuals then passed on this training to additional militants in Iraq.

Iran remained unwilling to bring to justice senior AQ members it detained in 2003, and it has refused to publicly identify these senior members in its custody. Iran has repeatedly resisted numerous calls to transfer custody of its AQ detainees to their countries of origin or third countries for interrogation or trial. Iran also continued to fail to control the activities of some al-Qaida members who fled to Iran following the fall of the Taliban regime in Afghanistan.

But in spite of that terrorism link, NIAC is opposed to “keeping the military option on the table”, sanctions, or even funding for Iranian democratic activists. All stances which are very agreeable to the Iranian regime. Anything to preserve the status quo and give Ahmadinejad time to consolidate his power. Iranian Scholar Hassan Daioleslam has alleged that the group has regime ties:

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.”

NIAC responded by denying a small set of the allegations in the article, and by threatening the Voice of America with a lawsuit after it provided Daioleslam with a forum. Frontpage’s Kenneth Timmerman (right) also noted similarities between the views of NIAC and those of the Iranians:

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.

Earning him a stern rebuke from NIAC as well.

NIAC Board Members Oppose UN Resolution 1737, on Iran’s plans for nuclear weapons: Two of NIAC’s board members, Mohammad Navab (left) and Alexander Patico (right) are both also directors of Campaign Against Sanctions and Military Intervention in Iran (CASMII). A CASMII Fact Sheet rejects UN Resolution 1737 in terms which echo those of the Iranian regime.

CASMII: “There is no basis for Resolution 1737 under international law and questions have been raised as to whether political pressure was exerted on the Security Council members to vote in favour of it. Without evidence that Iran has diverted its civilian nuclear activities into a weaponization programme and since she has fully cooperated with the IAEA, there were no grounds within the NPT either to refer Iran to the UN Security Council, or to pass Resolution 1737.”

RFE/RL: Iranian Foreign Minister Manuchehr Mottaki told the Security Council on March 24 that the resolution was “illegal, useless, and unjustified.” He also said the sanctions are “too small” to force Iranians to “relent” in what he called “their rightful and legal demands.”…The Iranian foreign minister also accused the authors of the latest “assault” on Iran of bullying members of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) — and now of the Security Council — into repeatedly voting against Iran. He said the resolution does not reflect the views of most UN members.

Delay, Delay, Delay: NIAC’s public position is to provide time - lots and lots of time - with the U.S. in a policy “freeze” that will prevent any U.S. interventions with more sanctions or military action to stop Iran’s stampede towards nuclear weapons. According to analyst James Lewis, Iran needs another 24 months before serious sanctions are enforced, or military action is taken against its nuclear bomb factories. As NIAC President Trita Parsi stated at the World Economic Forum on the Middle East held in Amman Jordan in May 2007:

Parsi’s suggestion for a “freeze” in the Iranian program could appeal only to those unaware of Iran’s many years of opposing similar requests, refusing all inspections, and restating its “right” to nuclear hegemony over the continent. The freeze won’t “provide the U.S. and EU with much needed time,” but it would provide that to Ahmadinejad’s regime to “continue its current nuclear activities.” Only the appeasement lobby, like Grover Norquist’s cute little “American Conservative Defense Alliance” (found at the same address as the Norquist-founded Islamic Free Market Institute Foundation) or those benefiting directly from the current Iranian regime’s activities would support this kind of disinformation.

But the Bush administration is not freezing economic sanctions, in spite of NIAC’s lobbying. In fact, the administration is planning immediate, serious economic steps against the elite religious, financial and military interests (same thing in Iran) - perhaps the real reason for that July 26 NIAC lobbying conference in Congress. The Bush administration may finally be planning more effective economic sanctions:

President Bush is set to instruct the Treasury Department to block assets associated with Iran’s revolutionary guard corps in a new executive order declaring financial war on foreign saboteurs of the Iraqi government.

The paperwork to designate Iran’s revolutionary guard corps, or IRGC, and Quds Force is now on the president’s desk awaiting his signature, according to three administration officials who requested anonymity. The designation of the IRGC and Quds Force would mark the first time the finance related executive order process, reserved usually for foreign terrorist organizations, would be used against a branch of a foreign military.

The designation under a new executive order created to list organizations and people sabotaging Iraq’s government has been cleared by the National Security Council. …. The new order would instruct the Treasury Department to block all assets affiliated with the Iranian Revolutionary Guard, the elite paramilitary and intelligence arm of the Islamic Republic of Iran, whose Quds Force American military generals in Iraq have charged with masterminding the kidnap and murder of five American soldiers in January at Karbala…

A former senior adviser at the office of terrorism and financial intelligence for the Treasury, Michael Jacobson, yesterday said, “A designation of the IRGC would be an important step forward because the IRGC plays a significant role in the Iranian economy, handling some of the country’s largest construction projects.”

Mr. Jacobson, who left Treasury in February to join the Washington Institute for Near East Policy, said that the Revolutionary Guard earned revenues of about $1 billion a year from business interests, a figure he expected to rise.

So, if the White House isn’t cozying up to NIAC, then who is?

Breakfast of Champions… of delaying sanctions and not supporting dissidents: NIAC has held at least three “breakfasts” for Congressmen, including James Moran (D-VA), Chris Van Hollen (D-MD) and Congressmen Frank Wolf (R-VA), who also headlined at their June 3, 2006 fundraiser. We note that Congressman Moran has a history of ethics violations, anti-semitic remarks and a refreshingly open support for unlimited earmarks. Frank Wolf made his own trip to negotiate U.S. foreign policy with Syria, three days before Nancy Pelosi’s trip.

The George Soros Connection: Major foundations paying for the July 26 conference are all affiliated with or directly paid by George Soros’ network of extreme left-wing organizations: Pluralism Fund, Kenbe Foundation, and Ploughshares Fund. NIAC is a 501(c)3, which receives the majority of its funding from “Direct Public Support” (according to the 2006 Form 990). Major foundation support to the group comes from:

The Open Society Institute
Tides Foundation
National Endowment for Democracy
Kenbe Foundation
Kamyar and Goli Foundation

Soros’ organizations all support each other, so NIAC meetings have been co-sponsored by Hillary Clinton’s shadow cabinet-in-waiting at the Center for American Progress (background here) and the New America Foundation , whose Leadership Council includes Soros heir Jonathan Soros.

The Citibank Connection: In addition it should also be noted that two NIAC board members are Citibank employees. Djamshid Foroughi is Vice-President and Regional Manager of Citibank’s Community Lending Group in the Mid-Atlantic region. Parissa Behnia is Vice President and Senior Manager of Citigroup’s CitiSears business in the Chicago area. The largest shareholder in Citigroup is Saudi Prince Alwaleed bin Talal, a major CAIR supporter. While Saudi Arabia and Iran are at times perceived to be at odds with each other, both the Wahhabi Kingdom and Shia theocracy have shared in financing Hamas - and they seem to meet up here at NIAC as well.

Bottom Line: As a public education effort, consider asking your Congressman these questions:

Will the Republican Leadership support NIAC’s efforts to book the room on July 26, or encourage Mr. Soros to spring for a room at an actual Motel 6?

Should your congressman be supporting efforts to buy Ahmadinejad more time?

Should we keep his economy chugging along without stronger economic sanctions, lest the Iranian mullahs begin to feel deprived?

If all efforts to assist dissidents and democracy advocates result in their imprisonment, is it NIAC’s position that ineffectual hand-wringing is the only alternative?

An aside for researchers and staff: NIAC does do a substantial amount of lobbying (see their current ad for a Legislative Director) and therefore may be in violation of 501c3 IRS obligations to do only insubstantial amounts of lobbying. Simply put, if you lobby more than a very small amount, you should lose the 501c3 status which makes contributions tax-deductible for the donors. NIAC is not the only Islamist group that may be pushing back against the 501c3 laws: CAIR-NY is a 501c3 and lobbies substantially as well, and the North American Islamic Trust owns significant assets that generate income but, according to Guidestar,NAIT reports to the IRS that it has neither assets nor income.