THREAD
1)
Did you know a US citizen, with ties to Soros & the Koch brothers, is linked to virtually every pro-#Iran interest & operations in the US?
Amir Handjani & his partners are funding & running many "think tanks" (lobby groups) & media outlets promoting Tehran in the US.
@StateDept @NikkiHaley @RichardGrenell @SaraCarterDC @LeeSmithDC @JessieJaneDuff @rising_serpent @FreeBeacon @ChanelRion @skb_sara 2)
Handjani has financial link:
He makes tens of millions of dollars from a grain train with Iran, a deal he’d never land w/o regime/IRGC approval.
In return, he promotes Iran's interests by funding pro-regime outlets & writing in US publications.
There’s a clear quid pro quo.
3)
Handjani reportedly made a fortune in business in the Middle East as, among other things, president of PG International Commodity Trading, which, according to public records, conducts sanctions-exempt trade with Iran on behalf of @Cargill.
@Cargill 4)
He's wealthy enough to own, possibly among other assets, a $10.5 million condo in Manhattan.
realtyhop.com/property-recor…
5)
His other significant source of money seems to be oil trading. He is Director of RAK Petroleum.
RAK stands for Ras al-Khaima, the UAE Emirate widely used by Iranian businesspeople to evade sanctions and stash money.
6)
Handjani is linked to the hacking of people viewed as critics of #Iran’s regime.
He’s also linked through court filings to the targeting of Arab businessmen who are currently being illegally detained in Ras al Khaimah.
freebeacon.com/national-secur…
7)
Court filings show Handjani used hackers to try and identify who was funding the lawsuits filed by two Jordanian businessmen accusing the ruler of Ras al Khaimah and Dechert of torturing them.
These are very serious allegations.
law.com/international-…
8)
Handjani has spoken at conferences promoting business in Iran.
Batmanghelidj has close ties with Iran’s regime. This is him next to Hamid Baeidinejad, Iran’s Amb to the UK at the regime's London Embassy on Oct. 18, 2018, meeting w/ the British & Iranian business community.
9)
Handjani has written op-eds with the staff of Iran’s DC-based lobby arm NIAC on why there should be more business with Iran.
Handjani has also made at least one $10K donation to NIAC.
NIAC founder Trita Parsi actively promotes Handjani on Twitter.
10)
Handjani also signed a January 2020 letter of solidarity with NIAC.
niacouncil.org/press_room/let…
11)
Handjani has also been a major donor ($100,000 to $249,999) to the @AtlanticCouncil to fund “The Future of Iran Initiative” projected headed by @barbaraslavin1.
atlanticcouncil.org/about/donate/h…
Barbara Slavin has very close ties with Iran’s regime.
@AtlanticCouncil @barbaraslavin1 12)
Handjani sat on the Atlantic Council Executive Board. He gave a lot more than $200,000 to the Atlantic Council. It was closer to one million—which is an extraordinary amount to come from an individual. Most big donations come from foundations.
jstor.org/stable/resrep0…
13)
@RealAlexRubi: “Amir Handjani, a think tanker at the Atlantic Council & Truman Project, also works at KARV Communications, a lobbying firm that works for Saudi Arabia & the United Arab Emirates. He maxed out in a single contribution to Pete Buttigieg last year.”
@RealAlexRubi 14)
Buttgieg returned the favor.
As Biden's Transportation Secretary, Buttigieg says buying oil from #Iran, the world's leading state sponsor of terrorism, is “on the table.”
15)
Also, Vali Nasr, a known #Iran regime apologist/lobbyist who describes Qassem Soleimani as a “general” & “bureaucrat” rather than the terrorist he is, has close ties with Buttgieg.
(See all the details in the thread below)
16)
Handjani was made a Senior Fellow at @AtlanticCouncil, where he published articles advocating cooperation with the IRGC (a designated terrorist organization), and, without disclosing his conflict, opposing sanctions that would hurt his business.
reuters.com/article/us-ira…
17)
Handjani has even compared Qassem Soleimani, former head of #Iran’s IRGC Quds Force chief, to the Dos Equis “most interesting man in the world."
18)
As mentioned before, Handjani is a non-resident fellow at the Soros-Koch funded Quincy Institute.
Chief Iran lobbyist Trita Parsi is conveniently the Executive VP of Quincy.
Learn more about Quincy in this thread.
19)
Active lawsuits allege Handjani was involved in a hacking/disinformation/blackmail campaign against Iranian regime critics.
“Handjani has used his perches at the Atlantic Council and NIAC to lobby for closer relations between the U.S. and Iran."
freebeacon.com/national-secur…
20)
Handjani's business partner in RAK is Bijan Mossavar-Rahmani.
Bijan founded the Persian Studies Program at @Princeton, which also has a reputation for parroting pro-#Iran regime lines.
21)
Some examples of @Princeton’s Sharmin & Bijan Mossavar-Rahmani Center parroting pro-#Iran regime lines, portraying a very normal image of the mullahs’ dictatorship.
In 2019, the Center provided a platform to NIAC advisory board member Maz Jobrani.
@Princeton 22)
Remember Esfandyar Batmanghelidj?
—Bijan's nephew through his wife
—founded the Bourse & Bazaar website/institution that promotes trade with #Iran
—organizes the Iran-EU Trade Conferences in Switzerland
—written numerous Bloomberg pieces promoting trade with Iran
23)
In this video we see Batmanghelidj & Ellie Geranmayeh (another regime apologist/lobbyist) in London, both sitting very close to #Iran's then ambassador to the UK, indicating their close ties with the regime.
24)
Geranmayeh & Batmanghelidj have actively pushed for Europe to demand more #appeaesment of Iran's regime by the Biden administration.
Both have close ties with #Iran's former FM Zarif & former UK ambassador.
25)
So far, it is safe to say the Handjani/Mossavar-Rahmani/Batmanghelidj network is incredibly active in lobbying for Iran.
Maybe even one of Tehran’s more important cells.
26)
BTW, @Princeton is also home to Seyed Hossein Mousavian, #Iran’s former ambassador to Germany who oversaw the September 1992 Mykonos restaurant killing of four Iranian Kurdish dissidents.
For more info, read this detailed thread.
27)
Chinese-American academic, Wang Xiyue, is suing Princeton for allegedly being complicit in his imprisonment in Tehran.
Wang’s travel and study to Iran was promoted by Bijan Mossavar-Rahmani’s Persian studies center at Princeton.
paw.princeton.edu/article/gradua…
28)
Summary of Handjani’s role in an illegal hacking operation
“KC aviation exec wins hacking discovery ruling against UAE sheikh’s U.S. lawyer”
bizjournals.com/kansascity/new…
29)
More important information on Handjani’s role in the illegal hacking operation.
“As Dechert Faces Hacking Allegations, Aviation Tycoon Gets Subpoena Against NY Atty”
law.com/americanlawyer…
30)
Reminder:
“Legal Docs Tie Quincy Institute’s Amir Handjani to Spy Operation”
A pro-#Iran pundit at the Koch/Soros-backed Quincy Institute was more involved than previously known in an int’l private spy op targeting critics of a Gulf State sheikh.
freebeacon.com/national-secur…
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