Daily Podcasts Video Research

How Trita Parsi and NIAC Used the White House to Advance Iran’s Agenda

JL;DR SUMMARY Trita Parsi founded the National Iranian American Council (NIAC) in 2002, framing it as a nonpartisan advocate for Iranian-American interests while allegedly prioritizing advocacy for Iran-friendly U.S. policies. A way out west there was a fella, fella I want to tell you about, fella by the name of Jeff Lebowski. At least, that was the handle his lovin' parents gave him, but he never had much use for it himself. This Lebowski, he called himself the Dude. Now, Dude, that's a name no one would self-apply where I come from. But then, there was a lot about the Dude that didn't make a whole lot of sense to me. And a lot about where he lived, likewise. But then again, maybe that's why I found the place s'durned innarestin'.

JL;DR members get full summaries of all articles in the archive, including this one. Donate & start reading »

Tags

Foreign PolicyObama AdministrationTrita ParsiLobbyingIranian RegimeUs Iran RelationsEconomic SanctionsNiacIranian AmericansLobby Disclosure Laws

Places mentioned

London, United Kingdom
"Part of the corruption charges against Ney, exposed in DOJ documents, were related to the bribes that he had received from two businessmen in London who tried to buy an airplane for the leadership of the Iranian regimean export prohibited by sanctions."
Sweden
"Parsi began his pro-Tehran activities in 1997 in Sweden as he founded a small lobby organization called Iranians for International Cooperation (IIC) that used its few Washington members to send petitions and letters to Congress members."
Washington, Washington DC, United States
"and whose views are seldom quoted with any acknowledgement of his intimate and longstanding links to the Iranian regime."
Arizona, United States
"Following the Times report, Arizona Senator Jon Kyl sent an inquirya very unusual request in Washingtonto the U.S. Attorney General asking him to investigate the groups direct and indirect ties with the Iranian government."
Ohio, United States
"One of Abramoffs main accomplices was Bob Ney, a former congressman from Ohio who was sentenced to 30 months in prison."
Tehran, Iran
"In one of the emails, Parsi indicated that Tehran-based Baquer Namazi was instructing him."
New York, United States
"In August 2013, the newly nominated Foreign Minister Javad Zarif made a speech to the Iranian parliament and explained that during his tenure in New York as Iranian Ambassador to the UN, he established contacts with anti-Bush politicians to exploit American political divisions on behalf of Iran."
California, United States
"In 2007, while Alaghband was preparing the illegal sale of aircraft to Iran, he donated $50,000 to the California-based Parsa Foundation."
Washington DC, United States
"In 2001, Parsi moved to the United States and became the development director of the American Iranian Council (AIC), an anti-sanction and pro-Iran advocacy organization that had been founded by its president, Hooshang Amirahmadi, in 1997."
United Kingdom
"According to his own subsequent account, Alaghband wound up donating money directly to Brookingswhich in that same year hired a scholar named Suzanne Maloney who conscientiously produced a series of reports hyping the prospects for reform and better relations with the regime."

Support this source

This item was indexed and curated by Cairo, JL;DR's web crawler.
Cairo Item ID 81713
Cairo Source ID 10
Retrieved 2026-05-07 05:32:01 UTC
Curated 2026-05-07 08:31:07 UTC