Several individuals with ties to the Iran Experts Initiative (IEI) – a foreign influence operation controlled by the Iranian regime’s Foreign Ministry – managed to effectively infiltrate the United States government and even become aides to President Biden’s own special envoy on Iran, Robert Malley. The explosive revelations from Semafor come after Malley himself was placed on leave, having had his security clearance suspended pending an investigation.
The nearly unprecedented breach of national security, at least since the Cold War, was discovered after a trove of emails and documents belonging to Iranian regime officials were made public. Academics and other individuals with ties to the IEI regularly communicated with Iran’s Foreign Ministry. In one instance, a German academic even offered to ghost-write opinion editorials for the Iranian regime’s leaders.
The primary goal of the IEI members was to promote compromise between the West and Iran on the Islamic Republic’s nuclear ambitions. To push this aim, the Iranian Foreign Ministry recruited and helped position IEI members at top Western think tanks and eventually within Western governments.
At least two of the members of the IEI influence operation who worked for Robert Malley were able to penetrate the U.S. government’s fairly extensive and thorough background check system – especially for those who work in sensitive national security positions. One of the individuals, Ariane Tabatabai, was even able to work under Malley at the U.S. State Department, while Ali Vaez served as an unofficial advisor after failing to attain a security clearance. The third IEI member worked for Malley outside government at a think tank called the International Crisis Group.
Matt Miller, a spokesman for President Biden’s State Department, said Tabatabai was appointed “because of her expertise on nuclear and other foreign policy issues” and that Biden was “honored to have her serve.”
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