{"id":233538,"date":"2021-01-22T12:22:09","date_gmt":"2021-01-22T17:22:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ncr-iran.org\/en\/?p=233538"},"modified":"2023-02-01T05:18:23","modified_gmt":"2023-02-01T04:18:23","slug":"recent-arrest-of-afrasiabi-in-u-s-indicates-how-irans-regime-uses-different-covers-to-pursue-its-goals","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ncr-iran.org\/en\/news\/iran-resistance\/recent-arrest-of-afrasiabi-in-u-s-indicates-how-irans-regime-uses-different-covers-to-pursue-its-goals\/","title":{"rendered":"Recent Arrest of Afrasiabi in U.S. Indicates How Iran\u2019s Regime Uses Different Covers To Pursue Its Goals"},"content":{"rendered":"

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\"Afrasiabi-FBI-22012021-1\"<\/p>\n

The United States authorities arrested Kaveh Lotfolah Afrasiabi, one of the Iranian regime\u2019s agents, posing as an independent political scientist, on Monday at his home in Massachusetts.<\/p>\n

Afrasiabi\u2019s arrest once again showed how the clerical regime\u2019s agents operate under different banners to pursue and justify the regime\u2019s malign goals.<\/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. However, 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,\u201d said<\/a> John C. Demers, Assistant Attorney General for National Security.<\/p>\n

Afrasiabi used his so-called scientific cover to parrot the regime\u2019s talking points. While people in Iran in their protests identified the regime as the real source to all crises, Afrasiabi and his ilk tried to blame international sanctions. He praised Qassem Soleimani<\/a>, the regime\u2019s eliminated terror mastermind, and like Tehran called him a \u201cnational hero.\u201d<\/p>\n

Afrasiabi\u2019s main task, however, was implementing the regime\u2019s demonizing campaign against the Iranian Resistance movement, mainly the People\u2019s Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI\/MEK<\/a>).<\/p>\n

It is safe to say that Afrasiabi and his arrest in the U.S. is only the tip of the iceberg.<\/p>\n

The regime in Tehran, has been pushing its talking points in the West, mainly in the U.S. and Europe.<\/p>\n

Afrasiabi, along with other Iran\u2019s lobbyists and apologists, such as the National Iranian American Council (NIAC<\/a>), aim to portray the MEK as a fringe terrorist group; thus, legitimizing the appeasement policy vis-\u00e0-vis the clerical regime, by spreading this false notion that there is no viable alternative to this regime.<\/p>\n

NIAC has been the Iranian regime\u2019s primary lobby group in Washington. NIAC\u2019s founder and former president Parsi is in direct contact with the regime\u2019s senior officials such as the mullahs\u2019 Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif<\/a>.<\/p>\n

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Special Agent in Charge Joseph R. Bonavolonta's statement on the arrest of Kaveh Lotfolah Afrasiabi, of Watertown, MA, who is charged with acting as an unregistered agent of the Iranian Government following an #FBI<\/a> investigation. Details @EDNYnews<\/a>: https:\/\/t.co\/eNQ1CPNK1O<\/a> pic.twitter.com\/hb0rT5ZNJK<\/a><\/p>\n

— FBI Boston (@FBIBoston) January 19, 2021<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n