Sen. Steve Daines (R-MT) asked Secretary of State Marco Rubio during his confirmation hearings about how he intended to approach the challenge of the Iranian regime. After a brief rundown of various geopolitical situations, Rubio highlighted the attempt to assassinate President Donald Trump.
Rubio was not coy: “Let us not forget that [Iran and its proxies] have spent the last five years, actively and openly, plotting the assassination of the president-elect and multiple members of previous administrations.”
“Think about this for a moment: When is the last time you heard that a foreign government is actively, openly, and admittedly seeking to assassinate the former secretary of state?” Rubio continued. “The former and soon-to-be president of the United States, and others? And that people have been arrested for plotting that. This is who we are dealing with.”
Perhaps due to earlier, more visually spectacular failed attempts by others to assassinate Trump, or perhaps because of the transition to a second Trump administration itself, the facts Rubio mentioned received too little attention. But the Department of Justice issued a statement just days after the election that agents of the Islamic Republic of Iran, two of whom resided in New York, had been arrested, charged with plotting to assassinate several people in the U.S., including a journalist critical of the Iranian regime and Trump.
As bad as any assassination is, it would be difficult to overstate the massive ramifications for world politics of the killing of an American president by an enemy regime such as Iran. It would almost certainly lead to a war, with the endless ripple effects that would entail.
Normal Americans who saw the hearing were probably flabbergasted that Iran would be reckless enough even to contemplate such a venture, let alone have networks capable of pulling it off. But they shouldn’t be. Such interference in domestic affairs is nonstop. About a month after the Justice Department disclosed the Trump-related arrests, it also announced the arrests of an Iranian American and an Italian Iranian for providing material support, specifically drone technology, to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps. This underscores Iran’s massive network of operators, open sympathizers, propagandists, and agents inside the U.S. and allied countries and its willingness to use them brazenly.
A recent investigative document by George Washington University’s Program on Extremism, a highly respected voice on radical networks of all stripes, shows just how extensive this problem is. Indeed, the Program on Extremism’s report, “Propaganda, Procurement, and Lethal Operations: Iran’s Activities Inside America,” highlights how considerable Iran’s network in America is and what it is capable of. It is extensive and detailed, over 120 pages long, with hundreds of footnotes.
And yet, it explicitly states it is not intended to be exhaustive, a scary fact when you see just how much the report does reveal. It is, however, perhaps the most extensive documentation of the size, scope, and ability of Iran’s domestic influence yet.
As the report makes clear, the attempt on Trump’s life, far from being unexpected, is part of Iran’s modus operandi. Iran has “a long history of activities targeting the United States. … While most of the anti-American activities by Iran and its proxies have been carried out in the greater Middle East, some of them have taken place inside America.”
Attempted assassinations inside the U.S. are not unique. And some are not merely “attempted.”
The Program on Extremism’s report explains that on July 22, 1980, a former press official of the pre-revolution Iranian government and a harsh critic of the Islamic Republic, Ali Akbar Tabatabaei, was murdered on the doorstep of his Bethesda, Maryland, home. It was later revealed that an American convert to Islam, Dawud Salahuddin, formerly David Belfield, a North Carolina native, had been paid $5,000 (roughly $20,000 in today’s dollars) by Iranian officials to assassinate Tabatabaei. Salahuddin now lives in Iran and writes English-language propaganda for the regime.
Iranian attempts to silence critics, even on U.S. soil, continue to this day. The report cites attempts in the last five years on the lives of multiple Iranian expats living in the U.S., including two attempts on the life of Masih Alinejad, a famous critic of the Iranian republic. In fact, the Iranian regime reportedly tried to kill her again after the report was released. Other plots, around 2020-21, involved attempts to murder other regime critics vis-a-vis hiring the Hell’s Angels motorcycle gang. The fact that this is true, in spite of sounding like a particularly unrealistic episode of the Sons of Anarchy, only underlines how reckless and bloodthirsty the regime is.
The report also cites the 2022 attempt on the life, and successful maiming, of British American author Salman Rushdie by an American citizen from a Lebanese family who became a sympathizer of Iran regime proxy Hezbollah. While it is not known that the regime was directly involved, it is clear from extensive evidence he was radicalized by the regime’s ideology. How to classify episodes like this may be difficult, but that this sort of thing happens with some regularity is a feature, not a bug, of how the ayatollahs exercise power and influence in the Middle East and the Americas.
The report also goes into greater detail about other assassination attempts Rubio cited, specifically, assassination attempts on people such as former national security adviser John Bolton, former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, and former Trump Iran envoy Brian Hook, who more recently served as State Department transition leader. All have lived with Secret Service protection for some time now, although Trump recently, and unwisely, in my view, rescinded Bolton’s.
While Justice Department documents indicate that assassination attempts of these people would be revenge for the killing of Iranian Gen. Qassem Soleimani in Iraq in 2020, they may be about more than simple revenge. All of the above were involved in the Trump administration’s “maximum pressure” campaign against the Iranian regime during his first term, something the second Trump team has vowed to restart. It seems likely that this was an attempt to intimidate others who might seek to implement a similar plan, making it all the more dastardly.
American government officials have not been the only targets. Manssor Arbabsiar, a naturalized U.S. citizen, and Gholam Shakuri, a member of Iran’s Quds Force, were charged in a conspiracy to assassinate the Saudi ambassador to the U.S., Adel al Jubeir, on American soil.
Assassination attempts are terrifying, but, as the report explains, they are far from the only area in which the Iranian regime’s American influence network is active, having sections in procurement, propaganda, and operations in Canada and Latin America, as well as a section on Hezbollah’s operations in America, with Hezbollah, at least prior to Israel’s very recent systematic decimation of the organization, being Iran’s most potent affiliated force.
The section on propaganda is extensive, citing a network of 13 mosques and schools in the Northeast and Michigan, Texas, and California. The section specifically stresses it “does not aim to provide a comprehensive overview” of all Iranian regime propaganda network nodes but that “it maps out some of those who have more openly and consistently carried out propaganda and educational activities aligned with the Iranian regime’s worldview.”
Perhaps the most striking thing, given how little attention Iran’s domestic network has gotten, is how out in the open this all is. At least three of the 13 institutions are tied extensively to the Alavi Foundation. Others have more tangential ties but are still clearly connected to the Iranian regime. The Alavi Foundation, for its part, was founded before the Islamic revolution of 1979 by the former shah of Iran and has been in federal court since 2009, facing forfeiture of hundreds of millions of dollars’ worth of assets, in essence, for acting as an agent of designated Iranian entities, contrary to U.S. law.
The U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York stated plainly: “The Alavi Foundation has effectively been a front for the Government of Iran. For two decades, the Alavi Foundation’s affairs have been directed by Iranian officials, including Iranian ambassadors to the United Nations, in violation of a series of American laws.” While the action against Alavi was initially successful with a jury, it was overturned on appeal due to procedural mistakes by the prosecution. The litigation is ongoing.
But while litigation continues, so does the work of Alavi and its huge network of grantees and donee organizations. Occasionally, they even make headlines abroad. The Islamic Education Center of Houston, or IEC-H, caused a stir when it was revealed it organized a group of children, ages 4-14, to sing “Hello Commander,” an Iranian propaganda song “written under the recommendation of” Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei in which the children pledge to martyrdom on behalf of Iran. While this happened in the U.S., it was barely reported on in the U.S.
Program on Extremism’s report suggests this is just a more eye-catching facet of the depth of its support for the Iranian regime. In 2005, the IEC-H founded the Muslim Congress, a large organization that holds many large gatherings aimed at building support for the Iranian regime among America’s Muslims. This was done as a competitor to the Universal Muslim Association of America, or UMAA, a Shiite Muslim group that follows the more moderate Iraqi cleric, Grand Ayatollah Ali al Sistani. This alone should end the suggestion that IEC-H’s activities are motivated purely by dedication to Shiite Islam. This is about devotion to Iran, not a religious sect. But there’s more. The report further highlights that the Muslim Congress’s annual meeting often starts with introductions from Iranian ayatollahs and that its officials visit Iran frequently to meet with others. The center also hosts an annual conference in honor of Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, the founder of the Islamic Republic. The purpose could not be more direct.
Several more Iranian-regime institutions are located in the D.C. area, specifically Potomac, Maryland, and Manassas, Virginia, both a short drive from Washington. These two institutions have a lot in common. Both are funded by the aforementioned Alavi Foundation. And one of the founders of the Islamic Education Center in Potomac, Abolfazl Bahram Nahidian, is now the head imam of the mosque in Manassas.
There is also the Muslim Students Association Persian-Speaking Group, or MSA-PSG, a D.C.-based organization that was identified in 1998 by the chief of the FBI international terrorism section as a “pro-Iranian student organization … which is comprised almost exclusively of fanatical, anti-American, Iranian Shiite Muslims.” This organization is similar to the Muslim Congress, just closer to Washington. A report published recently, citing the Program on Extremism’s information on MSA-PSG, pointed out it was running a major conference just days after Christmas in Herndon, Virginia.
The report notes that several members of Congress showed interest in this network of mosques and Iranian-controlled propaganda institutions in 2023, sending a letter to the Department of Justice and the director of national intelligence asking some tough questions. But if there has been significant follow-up, it has not been made public. And unfortunately, former Rep. Doug Lamborn, who led the letter, has retired from Congress.
It is tempting to keep listing more organizations that are controlled by or deeply embedded with the Iranian regime and naming their sins. But there’s more to discuss.
The big takeaway from the sections on Canada and Latin America is that Iran’s operations in the other parts of the Americas are not all that different from the operations directly in the U.S. They have the same kind of influence and propaganda networks, to differing degrees, such as a sizable Spanish-language media effort, HispanTV, and Spanish-language sections of other media networks that are also active in the U.S., such as Press TV.
They’ve also undertaken similar kinds of violent actions. Most famously, a pair of bombings of Jewish and Israeli institutions in Argentina in 1994 killed over 100 people. These horrifying incidents led to decadeslong controversies and the death of an Argentinian prosecutor named Alberto Nisman. Nisman had accused now-former President Cristina Fernández de Kirchner of covering up Iran’s involvement in the bombings but was found dead in 2015, a day before reporting his findings to the Argentinian legislature. Nisman’s death, a suicide according to Fernández’s administration, has been hotly debated since. A later police report found it to be a murder. This entire episode was so spectacular that Netflix put out a multipart documentary about the incident in 2020, which stirred debate around the globe. Legal wrangling over Nisman’s death and Fernández’s role in a possible cover-up continues to this day.
Hezbollah’s infiltration is unnerving. The Program on Extremism’s report discusses 142 different people currently in some phase of prosecution who have been tied to Hezbollah since 1997. The true number of operatives in the U.S. is likely much higher. Public testimony by senior law enforcement and national security officials suggests Hezbollah operatives are not only engaged in terrorist financing and equipment procurement but also spying, raising the specter of attacks on the U.S. Moreover, the sophistication of some of the operations is alarming. One, in particular, involves selling expensive art worth over $160 million. Again, this is just an example. The report discusses similar, and possibly even more troubling, operations in Canada.
This quick overview of a handful of key report points is only meant to stress the extent of the problem and give a flavor of the report’s much more detailed and extensive discussion of Iran’s network. But as extensive and detailed as the report is, this is clearly a problem that demands a higher level of attention.
As a matter of fact, events subsequent to the release of the Program on Extremism report demonstrate that Iran has no intention of slowing down. Initial facts suggest the Iranian regime’s involvement in the assassination of an Israeli rabbi traveling in the United Arab Emirates. While this is not directly relevant to Iran’s network in the U.S., it does suggest that, in spite of every setback the regime has faced, it does not intend to back down. Indeed, also since the release of the report, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police informed 84-year-old former Canadian Justice Minister Irwin Cotler, a noted human rights advocate and strident foe of the Iranian theocracy, was the target of an Iranian assassination plot.
Trump’s “efficiency czar,” Elon Musk, who has a messy set of personal financial interests in Iran’s partners in Russia and China and its foe in Saudi Arabia, is meeting with Iran’s United Nations ambassador reportedly to “defuse tensions” between the two countries. Of course, at the same time, it is unlikely Trump will forget that Iran tried to assassinate him. Maybe this is less a time for “defusing” tensions and more a time for pushing the regime over the brink. It would certainly be great to watch Khamenei flee Iran as his former ally, Bashar Assad, fled Syria just recently.
While it is too early to say definitively who falls on what side of the divide, there seems to be a battle inside the Trump administration on foreign policy between more hawkish elements, including people such as Rubio, and more dovish elements, including people such as Musk. As it relates to Iran and Iranian domestic influence specifically, Congress should help to stiffen the administration’s spine and undertake its own efforts to build on this report. Efforts such as Lamborn’s letter are a nice step but include only a fraction of the questions that ought to be asked. Additionally, legislation aimed at strengthening law enforcement’s hand would be welcome.
The main problem is that, too often, these kinds of problems get chewed up in simplistic narratives and parochial politics. Cries of bigotry or Islamophobia come easily when you are singling out an institution in one member’s district or a person who may be a constituent of another member of Congress, even when it is the Iranian diaspora in America that is up in arms over the small minority of Iranian Americans and their sympathizers. Law enforcement and intelligence agencies largely understand the problem, but they need more resources, more tools, and more political backing.
A select, bipartisan committee or even a subcommittee focused on Iran’s domestic influence could pay serious dividends in demystifying and depolarizing the matter and providing law enforcement with the tools it needs. This is particularly true if it was stocked by thoughtful Iran hawks and bipartisan consensus forgers on both sides of the aisle, such as Reps. Tom Kean (R-NJ) and Jared Moskowitz (D-FL). They could build upon the work that the Program on Extremism has started and work with the administration to take action to dismantle this network.
While Iran’s propaganda network would undoubtedly fight it tooth and nail, I doubt it would work. And the Program on Extremism’s report admits there’s more to find. Indeed, as long and detailed as it was, it barely touched Iran’s influence in higher education, something Congress has just started to probe and that the committee could also look into. Another recent report by the Free Press shows that Iran’s influence may even run to K-12 education. Sharif El-Mekki, an educational activist who grew up in Iran, whose mother admittedly “loved” Iran’s ayatollahs and who has openly praised Iran’s education system, somehow found his way on Gov. Josh Shapiro’s (D-PA) transition team in spite of the fact that the governor has taken a generally hawkish stance on Iran. Again, the problem is vast, and there’s more work to do.
There is a recent precedent for this kind of work. In 2019, the Senate’s Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations issued an extensive, bipartisan report on China’s influence on higher education after deep investigation. Also, the last Congress had a Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party aimed at forging a “consensus on the threat posed by the Chinese Communist Party” and “developing a plan of action.” Its recommendations might not have been earth-shattering, but they have been useful in shaping the debate and the public perception of the need to oppose China’s rise. It hasn’t forged consensus, but it has made the matter more bipartisan and easier to work on.
CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER
There is no reason Iran’s domestic influence should not be treated similarly. As House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) has explained, Russia, China, and Iran coordinate to undermine America’s interests. Congress has been focusing on only one part of the problem. It should expand it.
The recent and significant setbacks for Iran and its proxies in Lebanon, Syria, and on their own soil show how vulnerable the regime is. We should not allow its influence network to warp our policy toward this toxic regime. The Trump administration starts with a history of taking a strong stand on Iran. Congress should help it blow past Iran’s smoke screen.
Clifford Smith is a former congressional staffer and an attorney.
This article was originally published at www.washingtonexaminer.com
