- 13 November 2009
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- 8 Comments
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- MEK, Neo-Con Agenda
NIAC Stands by its Record of Pursuing Peace Through Diplomacy
13 November 2009 Posted By NIAC
The following statement was issued by NIAC in response to today’s article in the Washington Times:
Washington DC – NIAC is proud of its work to advance US national security through a smarter and more effective policy on Iran. NIAC rejects the insinuations made by Washington Times that its activities are in violation of tax laws, the Foreign Agents Registration Act and lobbying disclosure laws.
NIAC has provided tens of thousands of documents and all its financial records in order to prosecute a defamation case against Hassan Dai. Those documents prove the allegations made against NIAC are completely false. The judge denied Dai’s motion to dismiss the case on 18 out of 19 counts. Realizing this, the defendants have decided to maliciously leak those documents to a reporter at the Washington Times, Eli Lake, in an attempt to litigate the case in the media rather than in a court of law.
NIAC is a 501 (c)3 educational organization representing Americans of Iranian descent. It engages in educational, advocacy and limited lobbying activities in accordance with US laws and regulations. NIAC does not lobby on behalf of the Islamic Republic. NIAC advocates on behalf of the Iranian-American community, who overwhelmingly oppose the policies of the government of Iran.
Mr. Lake’s article does not present any evidence for any of its claims and stops short of making any direct accusations. Instead, it makes insinuations and engages in conspiratorial speculation, presumably with the aim of sowing seeds of doubt in the minds of the public about NIAC and fabricating a controversy around the organization.
This follows by now a familiar pattern in which neo-conservative activists have sought to smear and defame NIAC by making accusations, innuendos and speculation, without providing any evidence to back their claims.
In fact, evidence is to the contrary. Why would Ambassador John Limbert, a former hostage imprisoned for 444 days by the government in Iran, join the advisory board of an organization that supposedly represents the interests of the very same government that imprisoned him? This claim is illogical at best and ludicrous at worst.
Mr. Lake has selectively focused on emails and documents that fit with his pre-determined verdict against NIAC. Though the basis of Lake’s article is misinformation about NIAC provided by Hassan Dai, Lake did not ask a single question about our lawsuit, why it was filed, our understanding of Dai’s political motivations and Dai’s connections to the Iranian terrorist organization, the Mujahedin-e Khalq. NIAC encouraged Lake to investigate the evidence of Dai’s role in the Mujahedin-e Khalq. However, Lake declined to investigate his own sources.
It is clear that some neo-conservative elements wish to divide the Iranian Diaspora at a time when unity is needed more than ever for the democratic aspirations of the Iranian people to be achieved. While some prominent figures in the Iranian Diaspora have misunderstood NIAC’s activities, we are reaching out to them and we refuse to walk into this trap of pitting members of the community against each other.
NIAC has given the Iranian-American community a powerful voice in Washington DC that has effectively pushed for greater focus on human rights in Iran, opposed war between the US and Iran, opposed broad-based sanctions that hurt the Iranian people while strengthening its hard-line government, and supported diplomacy between the two countries to resolve their differences in a peaceful manner.
8 Responses to “NIAC Stands by its Record of Pursuing Peace Through Diplomacy”
Oh boy, the neocons are all over this thing. you guys better fight hard and do it fast before its too late!
http://www.weeklystandard.com/weblogs/TWSFP/2009/11/trita_parsi_the_iranian_regime_1.asp
http://corner.nationalreview.com/post/?q=Mjc3NWRiZDQxMjA4ODhhZGYzOTM5NGEzZWU3ZGI0ZDY=
This is yellow journalism at its worst. Lake’s article is part of AIPAC’s way of getting back at NIAC for succesfully educating the American public against bombing Iranians. Now that they have been relatively sidelined due to an Obama administration that is not cowed by the Zionist lobby, they have to resort to malicious attacks against an organization that advocates peace and security for all.
The fact that Lake’s main source for this story is a member of the terrorist MEK group speaks for itself. But then again, one should not expect much for from a rag like the Washington Times. Fortunately, no truly informed people subscribe to this publication and its poor quality of journalism.
also http://jeffreygoldberg.theatlantic.com/archives/2009/11/trita_parsi_lobbyist_for_iran.php
The article pretty much parrots the accusations I’ve read over the internet by supporters of the terrorist group MEK.
Really sad to see the divisive comments put forth by AIC and that green movement activist. Sad but not surprising. It’s an unflattering trait not uncommon to our people.
What is surprising to me is Trita’s citizenship. He’s not American. I thought this association was by and for Iranian-Americans. The fact that there are a number of non-Iranians on staff doesn’t concern me so much as a leader that is not an actual American. I’ll need some time to consider this.
It is depressing to see such political and legal posturing towards efforts at improving US-Iran relations. I’d like to think that one can be supportive of both the United States and Iran at the same time, and not have to take political and legal heat for doing so. Such is impossible in Iran, and now it’s looking a lot less possible here in America.
How hard it is to be Iranian-American.
Good rebuttal to this hysterical right-wing attack. I found the last sentence of the article a bit troublesome though:
“Mohsen Makhmalbaf, an acclaimed Iranian filmmaker and unofficial spokesman for Iran’s opposition Green Movement, told The Times, ‘I think Trita Parsi does not belong to the Green Movement. I feel his lobbying has secretly been more for the Islamic Republic.'”
A ridiculous charge, but why would Makhmalbaf say such a thing? Is there some personal history there between him and Trita?
You guys need to pull out all the stops because these neocons are coming at you with all of their energy and hatred.
“A ridiculous charge, but why would Makhmalbaf say such a thing? Is there some personal history there between him and Trita?”
Probably not; it’s more likely to do with Trita essentially agreeing with the Obama administration policy of not explicitly “picking sides” during the election and succeeding turmoil. Makhmalbaf didn’t agree with this policy and seems to have formed the view that if you aren’t a declared Green Movement supporter, you must secretly support Khamenei.
Trita of course does broadly support the Green Movement – he just doesn’t believe that it would be helpful if the US Government becomes a partisan supporter.
Ah, thanks for the backstory, sounds like old-school activism vs. new-school activism. I wish Makhmalbaf had been more careful in his comments, since quotes like this seemingly lend credibility to attacks on NIAC.