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Ayatollahs’
Lobby In
Washington
Offering Human Rights As A Negotiating Item
Hassan
Daoleslam - 7/21/2007
The National Iranian American Council (NIAC) and its president Trita
Parsi plan to organize a panel in the US House of Representatives on
July 26th, 2007, titled “Human Rights in
Iran
and US Foreign Policy Options” [1]. According to the published agenda,
representatives from Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch will
participate. The sponsors of the program (NIAC and Trita Parsi) are key
players in the lobby enterprise of
Tehran
’s ayatollahs in the
United States
. The Iranian regime’s violations of human rights have reached
unprecedented levels. Its barbaric suppression of women, workers,
students and dissidents, and the stoning of a man after 11 years of
imprisonment, have been the subject of broad international condemnation.
The reason
Iran
’s lobby is organizing the program is twofold:
1. To present “human rights” as a
negotiating item on the “engagement” table with hopes to have human
rights entities argue for Tehran-friendly rapprochement, easing of
sanctions and tolerance of a nuclear
Iran
. In a nut shell, the lobby’s message is that the more West pressures
the regime, the more violent it becomes, hence, lift the pressure.
2. To uphold the Ayatollahs’ friends and inner circles in control of
international reaction to
Tehran
’s human rights abuses.
The Iranian regime’s lobby has continuously tried to justify the
Iran’s clerical behavior and especially its record of human rights
violations, by arguing that its cause are external factors and US
coercive policies. If the Iranian American scholars are arrested, blame
the
US
administration for allocating funds for Iranian activists. If
Ahmadinejad has embarked on a policy of total repression inside the
country and antagonism abroad, the blame is on
US
administration for the famous axis of evil speech and not supporting
Khatami.
Ahmadinejad hold the Holocaust conference and declared that “Israel
should be wiped off from the map”, Trita Parsi and his cohorts not
only did not condemn this anti-Iranian and anti-humanity act, but
launched a campaign directed by Siamak Namazi (Parsi’s main partner in
Tehran) to blame the fault on “neocon” media which intentionally
misinterpreted Ahmadinejad’s declarations [2].
The lobby’s PR tactic on human rights issue in
Iran
is best presented in Trita Parsi’s own declarations. In 2005, he
called for linking improvement of the human rights situation in
Iran
to guarantee of security of the mullahs and the lifting of sanctions
[3].
“While the world has focused on discussions over
Tehran
's nuclear capability, human rights in
Iran
have suffered severe setbacks…..With the rest of the world distracted
by the nuclear issue, anti-democratic forces in
Iran
have clamped down on the Iranian democracy movement……. For
Tehran
, a nuclear arsenal is only really useful as a deterrent against
possible
US
aggression.
Iran
does not need a nuclear deterrent against any other Middle Eastern
country. …. Only security guarantees from the
US
, as part of a broader political arrangement, can convince
Iran
to agree to lasting compromises in the nuclear area.”
The mullahs’ message in this article is clear: If the west does not
guarantee their uninterrupted rule (“security”) by providing ample
financial resources (elimination of sanctions) and allowing an unimpeded
path to super power status through development of nuclear capabilities,
the regime will continue to suppress, kill and torture the Iranian
people.
Binding accountability for
Iran
’s barbaric suppression of the population to nuclear issues and
Iran
’s meddling in
Iraq
per the demands of their
US
lobby, does the bidding of the ruling ayatollahs. The participation of
international human rights organizations in this charade would be a
grave mistake.
NIAC, Trita Parsi and The Iranian Regime
Officially founded in 2002, NIAC is one of the Iranian regime’s Lobby
arms in the
US
. In a recent article I wrote about NIAC and its effective role as a
lobby node for
Tehran
’s rulers [4,5].
In order to better understand the relation between NIAC and
Tehran
, we should refer to several figures directly involved in its creation.
First and foremost, is Bob Ney, a current federal prisoner and former
Ohio Congressman. Ney reportedly received bribes from lobbyists and two
international arms dealers in a conspiracy to circumvent sanctions to
sell US-made airplane parts to
Tehran
[6-8]. At the time, Trita Parsi was Ney’s assistant in Iran-related
matters [9]. Then, there are two of Neys accomplices in his bribery and
conspiracy relations with the arms dealers. These two are well-known
Washington
lobbyists Roy Coffee and Dave DiStefano. Roy Coffee in a letter to the
Dallas Morning News in February 2006 [10] justifying his relationship
with Ney and the arms dealers, discussed their collaboration with Trita
Parsi to create an Iranian American lobby in 2002. In this letter,
Coffee described the events following the meeting of his former
classmate Darius Baghai (who had just returned from Iran) with Bob Ney:
“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.”
One of the most important figures behind the creation of NIAC is Siamak
Namazi who along with his sister and brother, control the Atieh Bahar
enterprise, a major umbrella firm for several companies in
Iran
. Atieh’s customers include the foreign corporations who wish to do
business in
Iran
and find no option but to bribe officials. Recent fiascos involving
Atieh’s customers corrupted dealings with the Iranian regime (such as
Norway
’s Statoil.[12]or the CEO of the French oil company Total SA [13] )has
not changed Namazi’s prominent place inside the dominant spheres of
power in
Tehran
. Namazi’s enterprise continues to provide networking and computer
services for almost all Iranian banks, parliament, and other important
institutions. Namazi’s groups monitor nearly all Iranian economic and
political activities and have access to the country’s most sensitive
data [14]. One of the Atieh Bahar’s affiliated companies is Azar
Energy, which is in partnership with Iranian government in oil projects
and is a part of the Mullah’s oil mafia [15].
In 1999, Trita Parsi who was then living in
Sweden
, and Siamak Namazi, living in
Tehran
, presented a project in which they explained how to create an Iranian
lobby in
Washington
. This roadmap for creating NIAC and its modus operandi was presented at
the invitation and arrangement of Hossein Alikhani at a conference
called “Dialogue and Action Amongst the People of Iran and America”
(DAPIA) that he hosted in Cypress in 1999. [16]. Hossein Alikhani is a
former felon who in 1992, pled guilty to charges of violating
anti-terrorist sanctions [17] and spent some time in US federal prisons.
Recently
Iran
’s ayatollahs promised him the deed for the
US
embassy complex in
Tehran
[18] for his pain and suffering in American prisons. The true reason for
this very generous $1.0 billion dollar reward should be sought
elsewhere.
The roadmap for the lobby in US is described in the paper [19] titled
“Iranian-Americans: The bridge between two nations” in DAPIA. This
report comprises the manifesto and roadmap of the new Iranian lobby in
the
US
. In this paper, the authors suggest 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 are: To give 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 abroad.
Once NIAC was created in 2002, on November 25, 2002, Roy Coffee and
Distefano organized a lobbying training class for NIAC in a restaurant
in
Washington
DC
area.[20,21]. On January 29th 2003, Bob Ney organized a fundraising for
NIAC [22]. This was at the same time that the two
London
based felons related to the Iranian government, had hired the
Washington
lobbyists and were bribing Bob Ney.
On December 28, 2006 the governmental newspaper Aftab in
Iran
published an interview with Trita Parsi [23]. In his introduction, the
editor underlined the role of Parsi’s lobby on behalf of the Iranian
regime. Next to Parsi’s photo, the article’s title seems
interesting: “The Iranian Lobby Becomes Active”. The translation of
parts of the paper follows:
“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. The role of
unofficial diplomacy (lobbying) has been correctly underlined by
experts”
On September 19, 2006, the former head of the Iran Interest in
Washington, Ambassador Faramarze Fathnejad thrilled about Trita Parsi
and NIAC’s efforts 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” [24].
To this date Trita Parsi and NIAC have tenaciously followed their
declared roadmap and have worked hard to improve the image of
Tehran
’s rulers and pale
Tehran
unfriendly actions by the West.
Trita Parsi and the violations of Human Rights in
Iran
In order to understand the Iranian regime’s goal of organizing the
“human rights panel” in
Washington
, we should first examine Trita Parsi’s past activities on the issue
of human rights in
Iran
. In this regards, Parsi has meticulously followed his boss, Bob Ney. In
his famous speech in June 2001 before the American Iranian Council
(AIC), Ney criticized the
US
government and stressed that
Iran
“has a freely elected president and a parliament”. Ney promised the
launching of a citizen’s lobby to educate the American lawmakers about
Iran
. [25]. In 2002 NIAC was founded. In the next several years, Ney
relentlessly opposed every single bill criticizing the Iranian regime.
He countered such bills by presenting a rival bill. Naturally Trita
Parsi’s role was to provide the “citizen’s support” through
sending letters and contacting the lawmakers. NIAC continuously assisted
Ney’s defense of the Iranian regime [26].
Parsi’s efforts have not been limited to helping Bob Ney. For
instance, in 2000, the human rights activists protesting Kamal Kharazi
presence in UCLA, disturbed the Iranian foreign minister’s speech.
While Trita Parsi had always refrained from condemnation of the torture,
mass executions, rapes of women in prison, and stoning consistently
carried out by
Tehran
’s mullahs, he was outraged by this event and Kharazi’s deprivation
of his rights. He wrote an article “The need for genuine human rights
activists” [27].
By selectively quoting statements of the U.N. Special Representative for
Human Rights in
Iran
, Parsi paints a rosy picture of the human rights situation in
Iran
.
"…significant progress has become evident in a number of areas
and sums up the report with the following words: Overall, progress is
certainly being made and, in the Special Representative's view, it is
very likely to continue, perhaps even accelerate.”
Parsi then harshly criticizes the human rights groups that protested the
speech of the Tehran’s Foreign Minister at UCLA:
“It is quite disturbing to witness groups that title themselves as
Human Rights activists, openly and blatantly opposing the freedom of
speech of an individual, no matter how despised he or she may be……
Freedom of expression is a fundamental human right that cannot be denied
to anyone-including a person accused of violating other people's human
rights or guilty of representing a government that continues to show
inadequate respect for these rights. It was therefore a sad spectacle to
witness the noisy opposition by these so-called Human Rights groups to
Kharrazi's right to free expression at UCLA.”
For Mr. Parsi, “noisy opposition” at the speech of the envoy of an
oppressive regime is a “quite disturbing” violation of a
“fundamental human right” which “undermines the very idea” of
human rights. Nonviolent verbal protests are, for Parsi, a “sad
spectacle” of “intimidation” that we should deplore and denounce,
but violent, misogynous, and well-documented oppression should be
addressed with “respect and dialogue”:
“We need to implement and nurture a culture of mutual respect and
dialogue, and, once and for all, turn our backs on intimidation, verbal
aggression and intolerance.”
NIAC’s sister organization: CASMII: denying the violation of human
rights in Iran
In December 2005, Abbas Edalat, a London based computer engineer, along
with several pro-regime activists, founded the Campaign Against
Sanctions and Military Intervention in Iran (CASMII) [28].
On January 6, 2006, Jon Tirman from MIT, one of Parsi’s guests for the
July 26th event, hosted a meeting for Edalat to launch CASMII in the
US
. This new organization was primarily consisted of Mr. Parsi’s circle.
Six members of CASMII’s board and advisory (the majority at the time)
belong to NIAC and Mr. Parsi’s former organization, Iranians for
International Cooperation (IIC). These were M. Ala, S. Mostarshed, A.
Patico, M. Navab, J. Fakharzadeh, and D. Pourkessali [29]. Alex Patico,
the
US
coordinator of CASMII, is also listed as one of the NIAC’s founders
and its treasurer [30]. Indeed, CASMII is NIAC’s offspring (2 links)
[31,32].
Parallel to Mr. Parsi, his cohorts have engaged in silencing the
regime’s critics. Two short examples are adequate evidence. One
example is included below. In May 2006, one of the anti-war movement’s
groups released a petition called “
Iran
: Neither U.S. aggression, nor theocratic repression” [33]. In this
petition, there was a mild reference to the Iranian regime’s record of
human rights violations. CASMII released a statement titled “Opposing
Theocratic Repression in Iran or Playing into Hands of US Warmongers?”
in which Mr. Parsi’s cohorts strongly condemned the petitioners’
stance against the Iranian regime:
“It is regrettable that your petition caves into US propaganda by
devoting more space in its text to condemnation of the Iranian regime,
which is to a large extent based on fallacies, inaccuracies and
exaggerations, than to opposing the US warmongers. As citizens or
residents of western countries, our essential duty is to oppose the
aggressive and imperial policies of our own elected governments which we
face and can impact rather than present a misleading and condescending
picture of the internal situation in
Iran
and promote our version of "democracy" for a country with a
different culture than ours. Rather than joining the bias Western media
and condemning
Iran
for human rights violations… The war crimes and the gross violations
of human rights committed by the coalition forces in
Iraq
and
Afghanistan
, the human rights issues in
Israel
, and the Arab client states of the United Sates, as well as the
violations of the U.S. Constitution, international renditions,
Guantanamo
Bay
, and torture, will remain our main area of public focus.”
CASMII’s chief in the
U.S.
is Rostam Pourzal who like Edalat and Parsi is a strong advocate of
Tehran
’s rulers. For instance, in the June 2006, a women rally in
Tehran
was brutally crashed by the police. The police brutalities were widely
reported by international media and human rights organizations. Pourzal
came to the regime’s rescues and in under the title “What Really
Happened in
Tehran
” wrote [35]:
“Contrary to dispatches by news services, I learned from an eyewitness
whom I infinitely trust that he saw no beating or gassing of the
demonstrators. Now I quote from his email directly: I witnessed a few
women protesters being asked by some female police officers to walk
away. In response the protestors [sic] started screaming hysterically at
the officers and accused them of beating them, an accusation which
looked unsound. "Why are you beating us?", shouted a woman
protestor at a female police officer, who was visibly shaken and became
speechless at such an accusation. Small crowds of bystanders would also
converge on these places to see what is going on, as it is typical in
the Iranian culture. I did not see any expression of sympathy by these
bystanders and onlookers for the cause of the protestors. If, for
example, equal rights for women are actually not as popular in
Iran
as we wish, we would be better off facing the facts and asking what we
are doing wrong, instead of inventing excuses or blaming the messenger.
I was stunned during a recent visit to
Iran
to find that President Ahmadinejad is quite popular among women from all
walks of life.”
Mr. Parsi’s cohorts in CASMII are so concerned about protecting the
image of
Tehran
’s mullahs on the human rights issues that even Shirin Ebadi the Nobel
laureate is not safe from their attacks. After her call to the
international community to raise the human rights issue in their
negation with the Iranian regime, Rostam Pourzal, smeared her in his
article titled: “Dancing to Western Music”.
NIAC and its sister organizations have rarely raised the issue of human
rights in
Iran
. Nonetheless, like clockwork, those rare occasions parrot several
predictable claims, namely that the human rights situation in Iran is
improving; that the main reason for human rights violations is pressure
from the West or resistance from the victims and the oppressed.
Invariably, the recommendations are to increase kindness toward the
ayatollahs, to offer more carrots, and to develop pundits of a more
Tehran-friendly breed.
REFERENCES
1. http://www.niacouncil.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=830
2. http://www.iht.com/articles/2006/06/11/news/iran.php
3. Parsi, T., “Reconnecting
Iran
with Democracy” Financial Times, January 2, 2005.
4. Daioleslam, H., Available from: http://www.frontpagemag.com/Articles/ReadArticle.asp?ID=27787
5. Daioleslam, H., Available from: http://www.intellectualconservative.com/2007/04/25/trita-parsi-bob-ney-and-iran%e2%80%99s-oil-mafia-penetrating-the-us-political-system/#respond
6. http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/10857676/site/newsweek/
7. http://tpmmuckraker.com/ney.php
8. http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Bob_Ney
9. http://www.iranian.com/Opinion/2002/May/Group/
10. http://frontburner.dmagazine.com/archives/013069.html
11. http://www.atiehbahar.com/
12. Intl. Herald Tribune – Europe, “Statoil chairman resigns from
anti-corruption group board after
Iran
bribery case," October 20, 2006.
13. PIERRE-ANTOINE SOUCHARD, A. Total CEO held for questioning over
company's
Iran
activities. (March 21st, 2007) available from: http://www.adpdigital.net/
14. http://www.azar-energy.com/
15. http://www.worlddialogue.org/meet4.htm
16. http://www1.umn.edu/humanrts/cases/63-05.html
17. http://www.asianews.ir/main1.asp?a_id=27078
18. available from: http://www.asianews.ir/main1.asp?a_id=27078
19. http://www.niacouncil.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=64&Itemid=2
20. http://web.payk.net/mailingLists/iran-news/html/2002/msg00572.html
21. http://www.niacouncil.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=67&Itemid=29
22. http://www.aftabnews.ir/vdccpoq2biqpp.html
23. http://www.topiranian.com/ngo/archives/009103.html
24. http://www.american-iranian.org/pubs/articles/Bob%20Ney%20speech.pdf
25. http://www.niacouncil.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=49&Itemid=2
26. http://www.iranian.com/News/2000/September/rights.html
27. http://www.campaigniran.org/casmii/
28. http://www.campaigniran.org/casmii/index.php?q=node/70
29. http://www.globalexchange.org/getInvolved/speakers/210.html
30. http://www.niacouncil.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=647&Itemid=2
31. http://www.niacouncil.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=683&Itemid=2
32. Znet, may 18.2006, available from: http://www.zmag.org/content/showarticle.cfm?ItemID=10289
33. CASMII, June 11, 2006 available from: [http://www.zmag.org/content/showarticle.cfm?ItemID=10407]
34. MRZine 6.18.06: available from: http://mrzine.monthlyreview.org/pourzal180606.html
35. The Iranians, May 4, 2006 by] [http://www.iranian.com/Pourzal/2006/May/Ebadi/index.html
Hassan Daoleslam is an independent Iran Analyst and
writer. He is well published in Farsi and has appeared as an expert
guest in the Voice of America-TV as well as other Persian media.
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