Alireza Jafarzadeh

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Alireza Jafarzadeh (born 1957) is a media commentator[1] on Middle East, a member of People's Mujahedin of Iran and an active dissident figure to the Iranian government who is best known for revealing the existence of clandestine nuclear facilities in Iran in 2002. In reference to Jafarzadeh's press conference, on March 16, President Bush said Iran's hidden nuclear program had been discovered "because a dissident group pointed it out to the world." Later that day, white House aides acknowledged that the dissident group cited by the president is the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI).[2] On August 14, 2002, Jafarzadeh drew worldwide attention by revealing that Iran was running a secret nuclear facility in Natanz, and a dideuterium oxide facility in Arak. These revelations led to inspections of the sites by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). After their first inspection, IAEA, said in a report on Iran's nuclear activity that traces of uranium, greater than what is needed for a civilian power program, were found on Iranian nuclear equipment.[3] These revelations eventually led to United Nations Security Council's imposing sanctions on Iran on December 23, 2006, over its nuclear program.[4]

On May 15th 2003, as then a spokesman for the National Council of Resistance of Iran Jafarzadeh also exposed the Iranian regime's programs for biological and microbial weapons.[5] On January 5, 2007 Alireza Jafarzadeh revealed that Iran's government has sharply increased its efforts to fan sectarian violence in Iraq, easily transferring money and arms across the Iraqi border.[6] In his news conference, Jafarzadeh provided details names of the Iranian forces, including the Qods Force, commanders, resources and plans for Iran's sustaining a large-scale terror network in Iraq.

Jafarzadeh is the author of a 304 pages book about Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, President of Iran, and his interest in developing nuclear weapons. This book titled The Iran Threat: President Ahmadinejad and the Coming Nuclear Crisis is adapted as an authoritative text book[citation needed]by major universities such as Georgetown University Department of Political Sciences. For more than two decades, Alireza Jafarzadeh has been an active consultant and authority on terrorism and Islamic Fundamentalism in the Middle East, particularly in Iran and Iraq with numerous media presence (see media activities section below).

The conservative daily newspaper in Iran revealed in 1999[7] that Jafarzadeh's name has been in the hit list of Saeed Emami, the deputy minister of intelligence (under Ali Fallahian), and an intelligence officer under Ghorbanali Dorri-Najafabadi, who was charged with self-organized assassinations of dissidents by the Islamic Republic.

Contents

Personal Biography

Jafarzadeh was born in Mashad, Iran in 1957.[8] He moved to the United States of America before the 1979 Iranian Revolution. In the USA he studied civil engineering, obtaining his bachelor's degree from the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, and a masters degree from the University of Texas in Austin.[9]

Jafarzadeh, NCRI and the Iran's Ministry of Intelligence and Security (MOIS)

Alireza Jafarzadeh, has been particularly singled out and targeted by Iran's government for his unique historical role in revealing Iran's attempts to obtain nuclear and biological weapons of mass destruction. Numerous web sites associated with the Ministry of Intelligence and Security have launched a coordinated smearing attack and false information propagation against him. According to the interrogation records of several Iranian spies arrested in Europe, as revealed by Holland's Interior Security Service,[10] "Iranian intelligence "distributes negative information" on dissidents", including Jafarzadeh, "and "strives to portray a Satanic view" of them." This operation is funded at tens of millions of dollars per year and is considered vital to Iran's Intelligence Ministry. As part of this operation, ex-members of dissident groups who have been turned by Iranian intelligence write diatribes against exile groups. As well as using threats and intimidation to turn espionage targets, bribes are also employed.

In reference to the Iranian Government activities against Alireza Jafarzadeh and other prominent dissidents of the Iranian regime living in the United States, one Iranian Ministry of Intelligence and Security spy revealed details of his operations in an affidavit he submitted to the US courts.[10] Jamshid Tafrishi said: "I pretended that I was an opponent of the Iranian regime, while I was in fact advancing the assignments given by the Iranian Intelligence Ministry." He says he "actively participated in the Iranian regime conspiracy" to blacken the names of exiles. This included relaying false information to foreign governments, including claims that dissidents had the support of Saddam Hussein.

Clare Lopez, a high-ranking CIA officer of 20 years standing and now a senior adviser to the Iran Policy Committee, a Washington-based think-tank which advocates democracy in Iran, says: "The Iranian regime deploys its intelligence agents and assets in a very sophisticated campaign to infiltrate and influence Western academia, media, non-governmental organizations and policy-making structures. "They make extensive use of the internet and fund or manage dozens of online websites. The MOIS are masters of disinformation, denial and deception - all crafted to lull the international community into acceptance of the terrorist regime in Tehran, compel us to abandon any serious punitive action at the UN Security Council over their nuclear weapons program, and smear the reputation of Iranian dissidents and exiles who oppose the clerical clique that rules Iran today".[10]

The conservative daily newspaper in Iran revealed in 1999[7] that Jafarzadeh's name has been in the hit list of Saeed Emami the deputy minister of intelligence (under Ali Fallahian), and an intelligence officer under Ghorbanali Dorri-Najafabadi, who was charged with assassinations of dissidents inside and outside Iran.

As a result, Jafarzadeh's association with the National Council of Resistance of Iran in which one of the main member organizations is Mujahedin-e Khalq (MEK) has been a source of controversy. Jafarzadeh was the public spokesperson for the National Council of Resistance of Iran until its office in Washington was closed by the US State Department on the grounds that it was too closely associated with Mujahedin-e Khalq, by then listed as a terrorist organistion.[11] It is broadly believed that inclusion of NCRI and MEK in the list was a token offered to the theocratic regime of Iran rather than based the facts of the matter. According to the Wall Street Journal:[12] "Senior diplomats in the Clinton administration say the MEK figured prominently as a bargaining chip in a bridge-building effort with Tehran." The Journal added that: In 1997, the State Department added the MEK to a list of global terrorist organizations as "a signal" of the U.S.'s desire for rapprochement with Tehran's reformists, says Martin Indyk, who at the time was assistant secretary of state for Near East Affairs. President Khatami's government "considered it a pretty big deal," Mr. Indyk says.

Regardless of what may be "claimed", legally, as recent at mid-2004, the US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia upheld the MKO & NCRI's designation as a 'foreign terrorist organization', thereby putting the NCRI and its controlling organization, the MKO, on par with foreign terrorist organizations such as al Qaeada (responsible for 9/11), the Tamil Tigers ( respondible for the deaths of 10's of 1000's of civilians), and Jemaah Islamiyah (responsible for the Bali bombings). Given that this court decision was made by an independent court ruling made by the US Appeals Court and during the Bush Administration's rule, it is difficult to understand how how it could or might be "broadly believed that inclusion of NCRI and MEK in the [Foreign Terrorist Organization] list was a token offered to the theocratic regime of Iran rather than based the facts of the matter." Indeed, in entirely rejecting the NCRI's challenge of its status as a terrorist organization, paragraph 25 of the judgement decisively states: "The State Department acknowledged that "NCRI has submitted numerous affidavits purporting to show that it is not controlled by the MEK and is not an MEK front," and even credited some of NCRI's "subsidiary points." Action Mem., Tab 2 at 12, 9. The agency, however, concluded that "the evidence developed by the FBI is convincingly to the contrary." Id. Tab 2 at 12. It may be true that the State Department relied very heavily on the conclusions of the counterterrorism experts of the FBI. As noted above, though, under the narrow powers of judicial review Congress has accorded to us under AEDPA, it is emphatically not our province to second-guess the Secretary's judgment as to which affidavits to credit and upon whose conclusions to rely. We are to judge only whether the "support" marshaled for the Secretary's designation was "substantial." 8 U.S.C. § 1189(b)(3)(D). We conclude that the support for the Secretary's conclusion that NCRI was dominated and controlled by, and thus was an alias of, MEK was indeed substantial, and we therefore reject NCRI's statutory challenge to its designation as an FTO." One can only wonder what those classified FBI documents hold.[13]

Jafarzadeh in the Media

On January 15, 2007 Jafarzadeh was a guest on CNN, Lou Dobbs "Tonight" news show (6:00 pm ET) discussing Iran's proxy war in Iraq. Jafarzadeh claimed that Iran has 32,000 mercenaries on its payroll in Iraq sabotaging the reconstruction and stabilization efforts.

As late as December 14, 2006 Jafarzadeh is introduced as the past representative of the National Council of Resistance of Iran in the interview with Claude Salhani in which he exposes Ahmadinejad's reasons for hosting an international conference to question that holocaust ever took place.[14]

Jafarzadeh's name first appears in the media in a Houston Chronicle article dated December 24, 1986, where he is described as a spokesman for the NCRI and MEK. In the article he denied US State Department claims the MEK was a terrorist organization responsible for the assassination of at least six Americans in Iran,[15] a charge that is vehemently denied by MEK.[16] In the same article, Jafarzadeh points to the repeated support of the majority of the United States Congress for NCRI and MEK, despite the State Department's position.

As of 2007 Jafarzadeh is a Foreign Affairs Analyst for Fox News, a position he has held since 2003 and is often a guest on Voice of America, or ABC Radio Network's John Batchelor Show. He has lectured at Georgetown University and the University of Michigan. He currently lives and works in Washington DC in the USA.

According to a publicity release he submitted[17] to Intelligence Summit, Alireza Jafarzadeh is a well-known and credible authority on terrorism and Islamic Fundamentalism in the Middle East, particularly in Iran and Iraq. It should be noted that no background checks as to the veracity of contributors is conducted as part of the Intelligence Summit. Regardless of his credentials, Jafarzadeh has published numerous papers and essays and has appeared on most television and radio broadcasts including, Fox news, CNN, MSNBC, CBS, NBC, NPR, VOA, BBC and ABC.[18]

Strategic Policy Consulting

Jafarzadeh heads his own company, Strategic Policy Consulting, Inc., where he consults as an expert on Iran's nuclear program, terrorism, and Islamic extremism.

Strategic Policy Consulting was formed on 10 July 2003. The address listed on its State of Virginia registration is 2101 CRYSTAL PLAZA ARCADE #164 ARLINGTON, VA 22202 4600. The SPC website lists an address at 1101 Pennsylvania Ave. N.W. Suite 600. According to the SPC website, its members have worked professionally with the US Congress, media, agencies, institutions and universities in order to deliver analysis, policy suggestions, and research for more than 20 years.

It should be noted this company was devised less than 1 year after his "revelations" regarding Iran's nuclear program were made while he was still less than arms-length associated with the NCRI and MKO. In response to questions raised with regard to his association, it appears Strategic Policy Consulting was formed to deflect such [possibly valid] criticisms. Apart from identical criticism and so-called "insider information on Iran", it is unclear what services Strategic Policy Consulting offers beyond this. [19]

References

  1. ^ Employee's True Face Background of a Fox News Analyst
  2. ^ Hosenball, Mark. "Iran: Mixed Signals on MEK", Newsweek, 2005-04-11. 
  3. ^ U.S. to seek IAEA action on Iran nukes. CNN.com (2003-09-05).
  4. ^ "Security Council approves sanctions on Iran over nuclear program", USA Today, 2006-12-23. 
  5. ^ Press Briefing. IranWatch (2003-05-15).
  6. ^ Giacomo, Carol. "Iran exile says Tehran steps up efforts in Iraq", Reuters, 2003-09-05. 
  7. ^ a b Farhadmaneh, Hassan. "The Court Notes", Ettela'at, 1999-07-16. 
  8. ^ Rozen, Laura. "Iran on the Potomac", The Washington Post, p. B05. 
  9. ^ Biography: Alireza Jafarzadeh. Strategic Policy Consulting (2005). Retrieved on 2006-05-01.
  10. ^ a b c Mackay, Neil. "Iran's spies", The Sunday Herald, 2006-12-24. 
  11. ^ Lorimer, Doug (2006-02-22). "IRAN: US relies on terrorists for nuke 'intelligence'". Green Left Weekly (657). 
  12. ^ Higgins, Andrew; Solomon, Jay. "Iranian Imbroglio Gives New Boost To Odd Exile Group", Wall Street Journal, 2006-11-29. 
  13. ^ United States Court of Appeals DC Circuit, Decided July 9, 2004, No. 01-1480. NATIONAL COUNCIL OF RESISTANCE OF IRAN (NCRI) v. DEPARTMENT OF STATE AND COLIN L. POWELL, SECRETARY OF STATE, RESPONDENTS, 373 F.3d 152. US DC Court of Appeals (2004). Retrieved on 2008-06-07.
  14. ^ Salhani, Claude (2006-12-14). Politics & Policies: Ahmadinejad's Antics. United Press International.
  15. ^ Trounson, Rebecca. "Iranian torture victims denounce arms sales", Houston Chronicle, 1986-12-24. 
  16. ^ Safavi, A. (2005). Missing the Mark on Iran. Front Page. Retrieved on 2006-01-27.
  17. ^ The Intelligence Summit - Speakers and Organisers. The Intelligence Summit. Retrieved on 2006-12-06.
  18. ^ Speaker Biography: Alireza Jafarzadeh. Intelligence Summit (2006). Retrieved on 2006-11-20.
  19. ^ http://www.spconsulting.us/

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