August 2, 2024
Two Republicans have launched an investigation into Vice President Kamala Harris’s national security adviser, arguing that he has close ties to a network created by the Iranian government to influence the American government.
The Biden administration has had several advisors who have appeared to have disturbing connections to Iran. The White House has given the Islamic Republic billions of dollars, and intelligence services recently revealed that Iran plans to do everything it can to stop Donald Trump from winning the presidency, going so far as to assassinate him.
The Washington Free Beacon reports that “in a Wednesday letter to Harris, Cotton, and Stefanik asked the presumptive Democratic nominee to provide information about her adviser Phil Gordon’s “connections to Ms. Ariane Tabatabai, a senior Department of Defense official who was reportedly involved in an Iranian government operation to expand Tehran’s soft power in the United States.”
Gordon, the letter notes, coauthored at least three opinion pieces with Tabatabai that argued against sanctions on the Iranian regime. Tabatabai was outed last year as an alleged member of an Iranian-run influence network that reported back to Tehran’s foreign ministry.
Gordon’s connections to Tabatabai are fueling concerns ahead of the 2024 election. Gordon is likely to play a central national security role in a Harris White House, and his connections to pro-Tehran advocacy groups suggest that renewed diplomacy with Iran will be a top foreign policy priority for Harris if she is elected.
Cotton and Stefanik are primarily concerned about Gordon’s access to classified information and want to know if his ties to Tehran’s enablers might disqualify him from holding a top-secret security clearance.
Gordon, the lawmakers note, published pieces with Tabatabai “blatantly promoting the Iranian regime’s perspective and interests.” Those pieces were published after the time Tabatabai was alleged to be working for the Iran Experts Initiative (IEI), an influence network that included several American policymakers associated with the Biden administration’s former Iran envoy, Robert Malley, who was indefinitely suspended from his job amid allegations that he leaked classified information.
Trump holds a significant lead over Kamala Harris when it comes to handling foreign policy.
The congressional investigation comes as the Middle East appears to be on the brink of war following Israel’s assassination of several Iranian commanders and the political leader of Hamas, Ismail Haniyeh. The actions came shortly after Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu addressed Congress and met privately with Kamala Harris. Some have speculated that his conversations with the Democratic frontrunner and her staff led to his decision to act now before a pro-Hamas president takes office.
The killing of Haniyeh sent a clear message from Israel: we can attack you in Iran.
The New York Times revealed how the daring plan to take out one of Hamas’s leaders went down.
“Ismail Haniyeh, a top leader of Hamas, was assassinated on Wednesday by an explosive device covertly smuggled into the Tehran guesthouse where he was staying, according to seven Middle Eastern officials, including two Iranians, and an American official.
The bomb had been hidden approximately two months ago in the guesthouse, according to five of the Middle Eastern officials. The guesthouse is run and protected by the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps and is part of a large compound, known as Neshat, in an upscale neighborhood of northern Tehran.
Mr. Haniyeh was in Iran’s capital for the presidential inauguration. The bomb was detonated remotely, the five officials said, once it was confirmed that he was inside his room at the guesthouse. The blast also killed a bodyguard.
The explosion shook the building, shattered some windows and caused the partial collapse of an exterior wall, according to the two Iranian officials, members of the Revolutionary Guards briefed on the incident. Such damage was also evident in a photograph of the building shared with The New York Times.”
The newspaper also reported that Ayatollah Ali Khamenei issued an order for Iran to respond by attacking Israel directly.
“Mr. Khamenei gave the order at an emergency meeting of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council on Wednesday morning, shortly after Iran announced that Mr. Haniyeh had been killed, said the three Iranian officials, including two members of the Revolutionary Guards. They asked that their names not be published because they were not authorized to speak publicly.
Through almost 10 months of war in Gaza, Iran has tried to strike a balance, putting pressure on Israel with sharply increased attacks by its allies and proxy forces in the region, while avoiding an all-out war between the two nations.
In April, Iran made its biggest and most overt attack on Israel in decades of hostility, launching hundreds of missiles and drones in retaliation for an Israeli strike on its embassy compound that killed several Iranian military commanders in Damascus, Syria. But even that show of force was telegraphed well in advance, nearly all the weapons were shot down by Israel and its allies, and little damage was done.”
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