Reactions to Claims of Relationships Between Some Iranian-American Figures and the Islamic Republic; Pentagon Defends Its Employee

On Tuesday, the spokesperson for the U.S. State Department, in a press conference responding to Voice of America regarding reports of a network of Islamic Republic agents infiltrating Western political circles and the U.S. government, stated that the report is from ten years ago. He said, "Most of the individuals mentioned in this report no longer hold positions in the U.S. government, and one of them, who currently works for the U.S. Department of Defense, has undergone a complete background check for a security clearance." In response to these reports, the Pentagon defended a Biden administration appointee against claims of "alleged membership in an Iranian influence network." A Pentagon spokesperson told Free Beacon that Aryan Tabatabai was "thoroughly and properly vetted" before receiving his security clearance. The Pentagon did not respond to Free Beacon's question about whether it was aware of these relationships before they were publicly disclosed. The Pentagon spokesperson stated, "Dr. Tabatabai was fully and properly vetted as a condition of employment at the Department of Defense, and we are proud to have him serve for us." On the other hand, John Kirby, the White House Coordinator for Strategic Communications, told CNN, "We are just reading this report, and I don’t want to get ahead of where we are supposed to be." According to a report published in Free Beacon citing Semaphore, the "Iranian influence network" known as the Iran Experts Initiative was managed by the Iranian Foreign Ministry. Semaphore claimed that this network includes "influential academics outside of Iran" who report to the Iranian Foreign Ministry and help promote the points of the Islamic Republic's discussions with American policymakers. The report also drew reactions from Ted Cruz, a Republican senator from Texas and a member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, and Senator Tom Cotton, a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee. Members of the U.S. House of Representatives also reacted to this report. The chair of the House Armed Services Committee stated on Tuesday that the Biden administration should investigate any connections between Aryan Tabatabai, a senior Pentagon official, and the Iranian regime. Jim Banks told Free Beacon, "Congress should investigate any connections between Tabatabai and the Iranian regime since Biden took office." Banks expressed concern that Tabatabai might have used his position at the Pentagon to pressure U.S. Strategic Command to host Hossein Mousavian, a senior former Iranian official, at a conference in August. Joe Wilson, another member of the House Armed Services Committee, criticized the Biden administration, stating that it has a knack for granting security clearances to suspicious officials. Wilson said, "First, it was Rob Malley’s security clearance, and now this. The Biden administration owes the American people an explanation about the extent of Iranian influence operations in the United States and whether Biden officials are at risk." Kevin Hern, chair of the Republican Study Committee, also expressed concern about "how many people in the Biden administration have ties to the Iranian regime." He stated, "It is no coincidence that Biden has been so soft on Iran. A leading state sponsor of terrorism in the world should not have friends in the U.S. government." Earlier, John Kirby emphasized that "we have not lifted a single one of the U.S. sanctions against Iran. Iran will not receive any 'sanction waivers,' and we will continue to confront the regime's human rights violations, counter their destabilizing actions outside their borders, combat this regime's support for terrorism, and address their actions against shipping in the Gulf waters and elsewhere, while monitoring their ongoing support for Russia's war against Ukraine." This senior media official of the National Security Council noted that "we are not currently focused on returning to the JCPOA" and stated that the President (Biden) has repeatedly said that we will not allow Iran to ever acquire a nuclear weapon, and we prefer to deal with it through diplomacy. Unfortunately, the previous U.S. administration decided to tear up an agreement that had effectively pushed their (Iran's) ambitions back for many months, and now they have been allowed to continue enriching, and there is nothing we can do about it for now.