An Iranian woman belonging to Iranian President Hassan Rouhani’s inner circle advises the Biden administration on policy towards Iran and its nuclear program. ! ?
Here are extracts from an article by Melanie Phillips which is full of infuriating facts, all of which should be widely known - and desperately need explanation by the Biden administration:
Ariane Tabatabai, chief of staff to the U.S. assistant secretary of defense for special operations and low-intensity conflict, was part of an “Iran Experts Initiative” created by senior Iranian Foreign Ministry officials to bolster Tehran’s position on global security issues, particularly its nuclear program.
In other words, Tabatabai was [is - JB] an agent of influence for Iran at the heart of the U.S. government and with the highest level of security clearance.
In 2021, Robert Malley—who was the point man on Iran under both the Obama and Biden administrations until he was removed in June 2023 following a still unexplained “mishandling of classified materials” [? - JB] ]—had infiltrated Tabatabai into the U.S. State Department to assist him in his negotiations with Iran.
31 U.S. Senators wrote to Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin to express their concern. They wrote: “We find it unconscionable that a senior department official would continue to hold a sensitive position despite her alleged participation in an Iranian government information operation.”
They noted that, in March 2021, shortly after Tabatabai was appointed senior adviser to the undersecretary of state for arms control and international security, Iranian dissidents reported her long history of echoing the Iranian regime’s talking points. She parroted the Iranian regime’s position at multiple public appearances and that her father was part of Iranian President Hassan Rouhani’s inner circle.
In April 2021, several members of the House of Representatives requested a review of Tabatabai’s security clearance. In response, the Biden administration dismissed these claims as “smears and slander”.
Even more astonishingly, Tabatabai runs the office overseeing hostage negotiations. Three weeks after the Oct. 7 pogrom, a reporter asked White House Spokesman John Kirby whether it was appropriate for Tabatabei to be in such a position given the claims made against her. Kirby stalled. Tabatabai is still there.
Comment:
So what is US policy towards Iran? Help that abominable theocracy become a nuclear power in order to destroy Israel? Or not?
Read the whole article here:
https://www.jns.org/buried-facts-about-the-gaza-war/