{"id":233413,"date":"2021-01-20T10:37:24","date_gmt":"2021-01-20T15:37:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ncr-iran.org\/en\/?p=233413"},"modified":"2023-01-27T17:41:17","modified_gmt":"2023-01-27T16:41:17","slug":"irans-regime-agent-arrested-in-the-us-for-secretly-lobbying-for-the-iranian-regime","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ncr-iran.org\/en\/uncategorized\/irans-regime-agent-arrested-in-the-us-for-secretly-lobbying-for-the-iranian-regime\/","title":{"rendered":"Iran\u2019s Regime Agent Arrested in the US for Secretly Lobbying for the Iranian Regime"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Kaveh-Afrasiabi-Right-with-Javad-Zarif-Left-Irans-regime-Foreign-Minister.\"<\/a>
Kaveh Afrasiabi (Right) with Javad Zarif (Left), Iran\u2019s regime Foreign Minister.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

An Iranian regime agent, Kaveh Lotfolah Afrasiabi, posing as an independent political scientist was arrested on Monday at his home in Massachusetts USA on the charges of secretly lobbying for the Iranian regime for a decade.<\/p>\n

The U.S. Justice Department released a press release<\/a> yesterday in this regard.<\/p>\n

\u201cA criminal complaint was unsealed today in federal court in Brooklyn charging Kaveh Lotfolah Afrasiabi, also known as Lotfolah Kaveh Afrasiabi, with acting and conspiring to act as an unregistered agent of the Government of the Islamic Republic of Iran, in violation of the Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA). Afrasiabi was arrested yesterday at his home in Watertown, Massachusetts, and will make his initial appearance this morning in federal court in Boston, Massachusetts, before U.S. Magistrate Judge Jennifer C. Boal.\u201d Reads the Justice Departments’ press release adding:<\/p>\n

\u201cFor over a decade, Kaveh Afrasiabi pitched himself to Congress, journalists, and the American public as a neutral and objective expert on Iran,\u201d said John C. Demers, Assistant Attorney General for National Security. \u201cHowever, all the while, Afrasiabi was actually a secret employee of the Government of Iran and the Permanent Mission of the Islamic Republic of Iran to the United Nations (IMUN) who was being paid to spread their propaganda. In doing so, he intentionally avoided registering with the Department of Justice as the Foreign Agents Registration Act required. He likewise evaded his obligation to disclose who was sponsoring his views. We now begin to hold him responsible for those deeds.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cAfrasiabi allegedly sought to influence the American public and American policymakers for the benefit of his employer, the Iranian government, by disguising propaganda as objective policy analysis and expertise,\u201d said Acting U.S. Attorney DuCharme. \u201cThis Office is committed to the robust enforcement of the Foreign Agents Registration Act, which provides the American people the tools they need to evaluate opinions and arguments in the marketplace of ideas by requiring foreign agents to declare their paymasters. Those, like the defendant, who conceal the full extent of their work for a foreign government when the law requires disclosure will face consequences for their actions.\u201d<\/p>\n

In his writings and interviews, one of the main topics that Kaveh Afrasiabi was focused on was Iran\u2019s main opposition group the People\u2019s Mojahedin Organization of Iran<\/a> (PMOI-MEK<\/a>)
\nAfrasiabi and other lobbyists of the Iranian regime in the United States, like National Iranian American Council, NIAC<\/a> had the task of portraying the MEK in the West as a group that has no base in Iran, and it is a terrorist group. Afrasiabi, posing as an \u201cindependent political scientist\u201d carried out this mission in most of his writings and interviews, and disseminated the Iranian regime\u2019s talking points about the MEK in the US.<\/p>\n

\"Weekly-Signe-up-logo-300x100\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Alireza Jafarzadeh, deputy director of the NCRI\u2019s Washington office, told the Washington Examiner<\/a> that it was a \u201cwelcome and long overdue action.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cUnfortunately, for the past three decades, the Iranian regime has been running an extensive network of agents and operatives, many of them U.S. persons, in clear violation of American law,\u201d Jafarzadeh said. \u201cThe impunity with which Tehran has run its emissaries in the United States had emboldened them.\u201d<\/p>\n

Some of Afrasiabi’s photos with Iranian regime officials show that he was very close to regime officials, as regime officials only take photos with those they trust absolutely.<\/p>\n

\n

\"Kaveh-Afrasiabi-Left-with-Mohammad-Khatami-regimes-former-President-Right\"<\/a>
Kaveh Afrasiabi (Left) with Mohammad Khatami, regime\u2019s former President (Right)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Kaveh-Afrasiabi-Right-with-Abbas-Araghchi-Right-the-deputy-Foreign-Minister.\"<\/a>
Kaveh Afrasiabi (Right) with Mahmoud Vaezi (Left) the Chief of Staff of Hassan Rouhani<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The full text of the Justice Departments’ Press release<\/a>:<\/h2>\n

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
\nTuesday, January 19, 2021<\/p>\n

Political Scientist Author Charged With Acting As An Unregistered Agent Of The Iranian Government<\/strong><\/p>\n

Defendant Lobbied U.S. Officials, Published Books and Articles Advancing Iranian Viewpoints While Secretly Employed by the Iranian Mission to the United Nations<\/strong><\/p>\n

A criminal complaint was unsealed today in federal court in Brooklyn charging Kaveh Lotfolah Afrasiabi, also known as Lotfolah Kaveh Afrasiabi, with acting and conspiring to act as an unregistered agent of the Government of the Islamic Republic of Iran, in violation of the Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA). Afrasiabi was arrested yesterday at his home in Watertown, Massachusetts, and will make his initial appearance this morning in federal court in Boston, Massachusetts, before U.S. Magistrate Judge Jennifer C. Boal.<\/p>\n

John C. Demers, Assistant Attorney General for National Security; Seth D. DuCharme, Acting U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of New York; William F. Sweeney, Jr., Assistant Director in Charge, Federal Bureau of Investigation, New York Field Office (FBI); and Joseph Bonavolonta, Special Agent in Charge, FBI, Boston Field Office, announced the arrest and charges.<\/p>\n

\u201cFor over a decade, Kaveh Afrasiabi pitched himself to Congress, journalists, and the American public as a neutral and objective expert on Iran,\u201d said John C. Demers, Assistant Attorney General for National Security. \u201cHowever, all the while, Afrasiabi was actually a secret employee of the Government of Iran and the Permanent Mission of the Islamic Republic of Iran to the United Nations (IMUN) who was being paid to spread their propaganda. In doing so, he intentionally avoided registering with the Department of Justice as the Foreign Agents Registration Act required. He likewise evaded his obligation to disclose who was sponsoring his views. We now begin to hold him responsible for those deeds.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cAfrasiabi allegedly sought to influence the American public and American policymakers for the benefit of his employer, the Iranian government, by disguising propaganda as objective policy analysis and expertise,\u201d said Acting U.S. Attorney DuCharme. \u201cThis Office is committed to the robust enforcement of the Foreign Agents Registration Act, which provides the American people the tools they need to evaluate opinions and arguments in the marketplace of ideas by requiring foreign agents to declare their paymasters. Those, like the defendant, who conceal the full extent of their work for a foreign government when the law requires disclosure will face consequences for their actions.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cAnyone working to advance the agenda of a foreign government within the United States is required by law to register as an agent of that country,\u201d said FBI Assistant Director in Charge Sweeney. \u201cMr. Afrasiabi never disclosed to a congressman, journalists or others who hold roles of influence in our country that he was being paid by the Iranian government to paint an untruthfully positive picture of the nation. Our laws are designed to create transparency in foreign relations, and they are not arbitrary or malleable. As today’s action demonstrates, we will fully enforce them to protect our national security.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cOur arrest of Kaveh Afrasiabi makes it clear that the United States is not going to allow undeclared agents of Iran to operate in our country unchecked. For more than a decade, Mr. Afrasiabi was allegedly paid, directed, and controlled by the Government of Iran to lobby U.S. government officials, including a congressman; and to create and disseminate information favorable to the Iranian government,\u201d said FBI Special Agent in Charge Bonavolonta. \u201cThe FBI will continue to do everything it can to uncover these hidden efforts and hold accountable those who work for our adversaries to the detriment of our national security.\u201d<\/p>\n

According to the complaint, Afrasiabi is a citizen of the Islamic Republic of Iran and a lawful permanent resident of the United States. Afrasiabi holds a PhD, and frequently publishes books and articles, and appears on English-language television programs discussing foreign relations matters, particularly Iran\u2019s relations with the United States. Afrasiabi has identified or portrayed himself as a political scientist, a former political science professor or as an expert on foreign affairs.<\/p>\n

Since at least 2007 to the present, Afrasiabi has also been secretly employed by the Iranian government and paid by Iranian diplomats assigned to the Permanent Mission of the IMUN. Afrasiabi has been paid approximately $265,000 in checks drawn on the IMUN\u2019s official bank accounts since 2007, and has received health insurance through the IMUN\u2019s employee health benefit plans since at least 2011.<\/p>\n

In the course of his employment by the Iranian government, Afrasiabi has lobbied a U.S. congressman and the U.S. Department of State to advocate for policies favorable to Iran, counseled Iranian diplomats concerning U.S. foreign policy, made television appearances to advocate for the Iranian government\u2019s views on world events, and authored articles and opinion pieces espousing the Iranian government\u2019s position on various matters of foreign policy. Afrasiabi has long known that FARA requires agents of foreign principals to register with the U.S. Department of Justice and has discussed information obtained from FARA disclosures with others. Nevertheless, Afrasiabi did not register as an agent of the Government of Iran.<\/p>\n

For example, in January 2020, Afrasiabi emailed Iran\u2019s Foreign Minister and Permanent Representative to the United Nations with advice for \u201cretaliation\u201d for the U.S. military airstrike that killed Major General Qasem Soleimani, the head of the Quds Force, the external operations arm of the Iranian government\u2019s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, proposing that the Iranian government \u201cend all inspections and end all information on Iran\u2019s nuclear activities pending a [United Nations Security Council] condemnation of [the United States\u2019] illegal crime.\u201d Afrasiabi claimed that such a move would, among other things, \u201cstrike fear in the heart of [the] enemy.\u201d<\/p>\n

Afrasiabi has admitted in his own communications that his extensive body of published works and television appearances, in which he has consistently advocated perspectives and policy positions favored by the Iranian government, has been attributable to the funding he receives from the Iranian government. For example, in a July 28, 2020, email to Iran\u2019s Foreign Minister, Afrasiabi included \u201clinks for many of [his] works, including books, hundreds of articles in international newspapers and academic journals,\u201d telling Iran\u2019s Foreign Minister, \u201cWithout support none of this would have been possible! This has been a very productive relationship spanning decades that ought not to be interrupted.\u201d<\/p>\n

The charges in the complaint are allegations, and the defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty. If convicted of both charged offenses, Afrasiabi faces a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison.<\/p>\n

The government\u2019s case is being handled by the Office\u2019s National Security and Cybercrime Section. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Ian C. Richardson and Michael T. Keilty are in charge of the prosecution, with assistance from Trial Attorney David C. Recker of the National Security Division\u2019s Counterintelligence and Export Control Section.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

An Iranian regime agent, Kaveh Lotfolah Afrasiabi, posing as an independent political scientist was arrested on Monday at his home in Massachusetts USA on the charges of secretly lobbying for […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":17,"featured_media":233417,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[45,176],"tags":[218,129,197],"class_list":{"0":"post-233413","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-news","8":"category-uncategorized","9":"tag-demonizing-mek","10":"tag-iran","11":"tag-mek-iran"},"yoast_head":"\nIran\u2019s Regime Agent Arrested in the US for Secretly Lobbying for the Iranian Regime - NCRI<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"An Iranian regime agent, Kaveh Lotfolah Afrasiabi, posing as an independent political scientist was arrested on Monday at his home in Massachusetts USA on\" \/>\n<meta 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