Republicans Probing Malley's Ties To Iran’s Influence Network
Top US Republicans at the Senate and the House have opened dual probes into former Iran envoy Robert Malley's links to a secret Iranian influence network.
Top US Republicans at the Senate and the House have opened dual probes into former Iran envoy Robert Malley's links to a secret Iranian influence network.
In a letter addressed to Secretary of State Antony Blinken, Senate Foreign Relations Committee ranking member James Risch (R-ID) and House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Michael McCaul (R-TX) asked for information on whether Malley was compromised by the Iran Experts Initiative (IEI).
At the same time, House Committee on Oversight and Accountability Chairman James Comer (R-KY) and Subcommittee on National Security, the Border, and Foreign Affairs Chairman Glenn Grothman (R-WI) also raised concerns about the Administration’s use of officials with sympathetic ties to the Iranian regime to negotiate with Iran. In another letter to Blinken, the lawmakers requested documents, information, and a briefing to assist the Committee’s investigation.
Iran International revealed the existence of IEI, a hidden propaganda operation established by Iran’s foreign ministry to promote Tehran’s policies on the global stage that included at least three of the Malley's closest associates, including one who currently works at the Pentagon and has a high-level security clearance. Malley himself lost his security clearance earlier this year and was suspended from his post at the State Department amid an FBI investigation into his alleged mishandling of classified information.
According to Washington Free Beacon, several committees in the US Congress are conducting investigations into the influence network, particularly in relation to Ariane Tabatabai, the senior Pentagon official who worked with Malley at the State Department. Parallel investigations have been opened into Malley's security situation. The State Department and the Pentagon, however, have refrained from providing satisfactory answers to lawmakers' questions.
The letter, also signed by Senator Bill Hagerty (R-TN) and Representative Brian Mast (R-FL), described the State Department’s explanation regarding Malley's suspension as “woefully inadequate,” adding, “The Department has failed to adequately respond to repeated formal requests for additional information.”
"On its own, the discovery of the IEI would represent an important step in unraveling a broader Iranian malign influence network," the lawmakers wrote. "However, the involvement of the IEI in influencing Mr. Malley's confidants, when Mr. Malley himself is the subject of an ongoing security clearance investigation, raises serious questions about whether this Iranian influence operation succeeded in penetrating the US government and influenced the policies of this administration."
The lawmakers also called for “immediate clarity on whether, and the extent to which, Mr. Malley's actions and the actions of his team have impacted or otherwise influenced US-Iran policy,” including reported proximity talks with the Iranian regime in Oman, which possibly led to the recent hostage deal that freed up $6 billion for the Iran's regime, and negotiations for reviving the 2015 nuclear deal (the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action).
The Republican heavyweights decried the State Department's continued obstruction and ongoing refusal to provide basic information, saying that it substantially increases their concerns, and “effectively blocks congressional oversight over the State Department and US-Iran policy.”
The Senate and House foreign policy lawmakers have specifically requested immediate answers to about 10 questions, such as clear disclosure if Malley's security clearance was revoked due to his relationship with members of the Iranian influence network.
"Was it related to the passing of sensitive or classified information to members of the IEI network, such as Ali Vaez?" they ask, referring to a former Malley colleague who works as the Iran Project director at the International Crisis Group, where Malley worked before. The Washington Free Beacon reported earlier in October that Vaez visited the White House at least five times for meetings with Jake Sullivan, the White House national security adviser, and Brett McGurk, who works on Middle East issues related to Iran.
The lawmakers are also seeking information about whether the State Department's internal security service was aware of Tabatabai's purported affiliation with the influence network during her collaboration with Malley. After Iran International’s report, the Pentagon confirmed it is internally reviewing “whether all law and policy was properly followed” in granting Tabatabai “top secret special compartmented information.”
The letter also urged the State Department to tell Congress when it became "aware of Mr. Malley's connections to individuals with direct contact with the Iranian regime."
The lawmakers also referred to an article in regime-affiliated Tehran Times daily, which released an allegedly authentic "sensitive but unclassified" memorandum dated April 21, 2023, informing Malley of his suspended security clearance. “Is this memorandum authentic?” they asked.
Additionally, in their letter, the oversight committee, led by Reps. Comer and Grothman, requested specific documents and information. This included communications that would shed light on whether Malley's security clearance withdrawal was linked to the IEI network. The request also encompassed the provision of "all calendars, both public and private, for then-Special Envoy for Iran Malley and Acting SEI Abram Paley."
Furthermore, beyond documents pertaining to Tabatabai, the committee sought a “full roster of all US Government employees who attended any meeting related to negotiations with the Iranian regime directly or with third parties covering the topics of American hostages held by the Iranian regime as well as any other de-escalatory measures."
The committee set a deadline for the submission of these documents no later than October 25, with a staff-level briefing on the matter to be conducted no later than October 18, 2023.
Iran’s ruler Ali Khamenei talked of “betting on the losing horse” in reference to regional countries, Saudi Arabia in particular, thawing relations with Israel mere days before the attack. The Supreme Leader and the Revolutionary Guards have also been providing money, weapons, military training and intelligence to militarize the Gaza Strip for years.
The regime was also so quick to install banners and billboards and hold street celebrations for the attack, that people started asking questions if they had been prepared for it. Hamas thanks Iran for support, and Iran reassures that they will get more but implies it had nothing to do with the operation.
In Iran, after Khamenei dictates the themes of the regime’s policy vis-a-vis global developments, other officials and clerics as well as his representatives across the country who are Friday Imams of the cities, start to promulgate them. The office of the Supreme Leader also produces media content to make sure other officials know the themes, such as the “losing horse,” that was made into a video clip and has also become a trendy hashtag in cybersphere by the regime’s online soldiers.
In addition to Khamenei and President Ebrahim Raisi other senior politicians have been vocal in adulation of the attack. About three days into the war that started with Hamas killing about a thousand Israelis, injuring several thousands, and taking scores as hostages, firebrand cleric Ahmad Khatami, one of Tehran’s Friday Prayer Imams, talked of the regime’s promise of annihilation of Israel and described the attack as “heroic” on Tuesday. "We send a message to the governments that are moving towards normalizing relations with Israel that this path is a dead-end,” he said.
Hossein Noori Hamedani, a conservative grand ayatollah in Iran, said, "Islamic countries should not think of normalizing relations with a country that cannot protect itself and has a government on the brink of collapse."
Mohammad Sadat, the head of the Islamic Development Coordination Council in Kordestan province, not only congratulated Khamenei for the Hamas attack but also threatened that more extensive attacks on Israel would occur. He added, "This prideful operation was a warning to the hegemonic countries."
Congratulations to Hamas came from Abdolnabi Mousavi-Fard, Khamenei’s man in Khuzestan province, stating that "Hamas has executed brilliant scenes of resistance and steadfastness." He added, "The firing of thousands of rockets and missiles at Israel is a blessing of the presence of Khamenei and the school of Qasem Soleimani." As the commander of IRGC’s Quds extraterritorial force, Soleimani was the architect of Iran’s proxy warfare in the region. He was killed by a US drone attack in 2020.
Even officials known to be critical of the regime, such as reformist heavyweight Mohammad Khatami, have hailed the attack as “a significant achievement for the Palestinian people.”
As the international community continues to denounce the Hamas invasion, Iranian officials are openly encouraging Palestinians to escalate their efforts.
Ali Fadavi, the deputy commander-in-chief of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), described Hamas's attack on Israel as "historic" and stated, "The Islamic Republic has played an effective role in boosting the spirit of resistance and battle." The ‘resistance’ is the term the Islamic Republic regime calls its logistic, financial and intelligence support for the militia groups in the region, several of which were created by Iran.
Mohammad Baqeri, the chairman of the chiefs of staff of the Iranian armed forces, claimed it would not be long before Palestinian youth succeeded in liberating the Al-Aqsa Mosque from what he referred to as "the Zionist enemy." He slammed the ongoing normalization attempts between Israel and Arab nations as a "plot" to prevent the collapse of the Jewish state, saying it “could neither halt nor delay the inevitable decline of Israel".
Iran is not shy about its support for the groups. Parliament Speaker Mohammad-Bagher Ghalibaf said on Tuesday, "There is no doubt that we will stand by them in realizing the aspirations of the Palestinian people and taking the necessary measures." Shahriar Heydari, the deputy chairman of the National Security Committee of the Iranian Parliament, told Didbaniran website that "the Islamic Republic provides training to Palestinian fighters, and we assist in military training." He added, "As long as the people and fighters of Palestine need the Islamic Republic, we try to meet those needs."
Iran has supported various regional militant groups over the years including Hamas, which receives around $100 million in aid each year in addition to the provision of weaponry and financial resources for its operations. Naser Kanaani, spokesperson for the Iranian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, reiterated claims that the Palestinian group had launched the attack independently, adding that the accusations against Iran were politically motivated.
However, the ordinary citizens swiftly made it evident that they were not inclined to accept the regime's rhetoric. The public promptly ridiculed the government's poorly constructed celebration of Hamas's "victory" just hours after the attacks commenced. Many took to social media to question the government, asking, "Are you celebrating hundreds of lives lost on both sides?"
On the third day, a poorly assembled piece of disinformation on the state TV's news channel, IRINN, backfired. Many Iranians quickly pointed out that the footage shown in the Monday morning news bulletin, depicting Hamas militants supposedly taking Israeli army generals hostage, was actually from the conflict in Nagorno Karabakh two weeks prior, during which Azerbaijani commandos were apprehending local Armenian officials.
Sunday afternoon in a stadium in Tehran, tens of thousands reacted to the government's propaganda by telling in explicit rude terms where to shove hundreds of Palestinian flags that were hoisted around the stadium.
Some observers noted that the change from polite slogans in the past about "Neither Gaza nor Lebanon" to this new sexually explicit slogan was the outcome of the Iranian government's refusal to listen to what the people want.
Off the beaten track of state-run propaganda, in an article on a slightly independent website, reformist figure Azar Mansoori tried to explain "Why Iranians no longer support the Palestinian resistance." She pointed out that 45 years of government propaganda promoting the "resistance" has confined support for Palestinian movements to a few state-owned media outlets. She argued that the fervent pro-Palestinian rhetoric has waned due to the government's double standards.
Mansoori argued that while the government constantly lent political and material support to the Palestinian groups, it ignored the repression of Muslims in other parts of the world.
By material support, she meant billions of dollars Iran has given to groups such as Hezbollah, Hamas and Islamic Jihad. And by “elsewhere in the world,” she meant China in particular.
However, due to the intense censorship in Iran, Mansoori couldn't explicitly state that Iranians are deeply frustrated with their government for allocating funds that should have been used for their welfare to Palestinian groups recognized internationally as terrorists.
Meanwhile in an article on Etemad Online, reformist commentator Abbas Abdi cautiously warned the government to avoid premature decisions as "Israel and Hamas are not the only players in this war and no one knows what the future holds for them" and for Iran. "It is like a coin tossed in the air and it could flip in many ways before it finally lands."
Speaking about the gruesome nature of some of the pictures released from the first day of the attack about the way Hamas treated hostages, particularly women and children, Abdi suggested that it should have respected the rules of war, adding that Hamas's behavior could portray an image of the group that elicits hatred. He added that Israel's behavior over the years has triggered the same kind of reaction.
Abdi, who is one of a handful of reformist commentators allowed to write in the media, added that the problem of Palestine cannot be solved by use of force and a sustainable agreement is needed to end the conflict.
He also expressed the view that the attitude projected by Iran regarding the war, which includes endorsing the mistreatment of hostages and those who have been killed, or encouraging such behavior, is more detrimental to Iran than any actual war. Abdi recommended that Iranian officials' rhetoric should encompass a combination of ethical and humanitarian principles alongside national interests.