Iranian influence network members scored 10 Biden White House visits
By
Gabe Kaminsky
April 15, 2024 2:48 pm
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At least three reported members of a covert Iranian government-controlled influence network visited the Biden White House on numerous occasions for meetings with senior U.S. officials, records show.
The trio, Dina Esfandiary and Ali Vaez of the global International Crisis Group think tank, plus now-Pentagon official Ariane Tabatabai, was outed through the release of leaked Iranian government emails last year as being linked to a network called the Iran Experts Initiative, a project of Iran’s foreign ministry that helped push Tehran talking points in the United States and Europe.
According to a Washington Examiner review of White House visitor logs, Esfandiary, Vaez, and Tabatabai headed to the White House a combined 10 times between April 2022 and December 2023 — a fact that foreign policy experts, watchdog groups, and congressional sources say shows the Biden administration has granted those with concerning Iran ties apparent access to the halls of power.
Esfandiary, Vaez, and Tabatabai share connections to Robert Malley, President Joe Biden‘s special envoy to Iran who was placed on unpaid leave in June of last year amid a federal investigation into his handling of classified information, Semafor reported. Malley, who saw his security clearance revoked, was the Obama administration’s lead negotiator in 2015 for the heavily scrutinized Iran nuclear deal that waived sanctions for Iran — the leading state sponsor of terrorism.
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https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/policy/foreign-policy/2965899/iranian-influence-network-biden-white-house-visits/
