{"id":233643,"date":"2021-01-24T07:04:00","date_gmt":"2021-01-24T12:04:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ncr-iran.org\/en\/?p=233643"},"modified":"2023-02-01T05:18:04","modified_gmt":"2023-02-01T04:18:04","slug":"iran-have-the-west-been-naive-in-dealing-with-iranian-influence-activities","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ncr-iran.org\/en\/news\/terrorism-a-fundamentalism\/iran-have-the-west-been-naive-in-dealing-with-iranian-influence-activities\/","title":{"rendered":"Iran: Have the West Been Na\u00efve in Dealing With Iranian Influence Activities?"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Khamenei-Zarif-Assadi-terrorists-27112020\"<\/a><\/p>\n

It was recently revealed that the US government was pursuing charges against a political scientist and self-styled foreign relations expert named Kaveh Lotfolah Afrasiabi<\/a>, under the Foreign Assets Registration Act. Charging documents indicate that he received upwards of 265,000 dollars in payments through Iran\u2019s Permanent Mission to the United Nations, for work that promoted the Iranian regime\u2019s talking points to American policymakers and media outlets.<\/p>\n

The work in question reportedly took place over the course of about 13 years, which naturally raises questions about why Afrasiabi\u2019s undisclosed affiliations with the Iranian regime had not been uncovered earlier. But for those who are familiar with the operation of Iran\u2019s covert influence networks in the West, the long delay in his arrest should come as little surprise. The targets of that influence have been notoriously na\u00efve in their dealings with persons who advance pro-Iran talking points, often taking it for granted that they are operating independently even when there is ample evidence of FARA violations.<\/p>\n

The National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI<\/a>), itself a frequent target of the Iranian propaganda that is spread through Western outlets, was quick to highlight this situation after it was reported that Afrasiabi had made his first appearance in a US federal court. \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 explained<\/a> Alireza Jafarzadeh, the deputy director of the NCRI\u2019s Washington office<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Naturally, the NCRI has issued numerous warnings about that network over the years, while also making efforts to counter its propaganda especially in matters concerning the Iranian regime\u2019s supposed political stability and freedom from domestic challenges to its rule.<\/p>\n

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#Iranian<\/a> Lobbyist\u2019s Arrest Should Lead To Broader Efforts To Counter #Iran<\/a>\u2019s Covert Influence.
Afrasiabi, in 2009, assisted a member of the #USCongress<\/a> in drafting a letter to then-President Barack Obama https:\/\/t.co\/cOOwncqf6g<\/a><\/p>\n

— NCRI-FAC (@iran_policy) January 22, 2021<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n