1/ 🧵Mr. Batmanghelidj (@yarbatman), you assert that the US shouldn’t disempower Iran’s regime.
But here’s a key question: in promoting a view favourable to dictatorial regimes, do you think it is important to disclose your own conflicts of interest?
#IranLobby
#MahsaAmini
2/ Do you think the fact that you’re obviously close to regime officials – here you are with Iran’s UK ambassador; me & my friends wouldn’t be allowed anywhere near him—might have something to do with your views on pressure on Iran's regime?
3/ Related question: aside from running @BourseBazaar, your economy-focused site, you’re also the registered agent of the Iran Tobacco Research Group. According to your site, your business “unlocks market opportunities for…cigarette manufacturers”.
4/ You say “there’s definitely interest [among] global players in tobacco...in getting back into Iran.” The same article says: “sanctions [have] largely closed Iran off from the West and the global economy, a scenario tobacco companies have been waiting to change.”
5/ This is the article I'm referencing for anyone that wants to read it:
ibtimes.com/iran-nuclear-d…
6/ Before I go on, let me address a counterargument you'll surely make: you'll say "I'm in the smoking cessation, not cigarette, business." First of all, your org's website suggests otherwise. As does the "tobacconist" description of your biz by your colleague.
7/ so, here is the key point @yarbatman: you argue against sanctions & pressure on the regime without every disclosing that your actual/potential clients – Big Tobacco – want to sell cigarettes in the IRI. Do you think that conflict of interest should at least be disclosed?
8/ An aside: the delicious irony of you crying tears over the effect of sanctions on cancer medicine, WHEN YOU ARE IN THE CIGARETTE BUSINESS , should not be lost on anyone.
9/ Do you think your business interests have anything to do with your claim – which now everyone can see was false – that Iran has a “roiling” democratic battle for public opinion with a “huge and diverse array of media orgs”?
10/ Do you think the interests of your Big Tobacco & possibly other western corporate clients to portray Iran as normal affected your position that Iran offers a lot of “self-expression and…economic independence for women”?
11/ Did your financial interests have anything to do with you trying to host a Business Forum with Iran’s FM as one Iranian diplomat was convicted for plotting to bomb an opposition rally in Paris & another was detained in Turkey for a dissident’s murder?
12/ Do you think the fact that the office of Iran's President (!!!!) is a sponsor of your programs is something that should be disclosed in your writings in Western media?
13/ Do you think your clients’ desire to get into the Iranian market have anything to do with your attempts to deny Iran’s (now proven) role in supplying drones to Russia so that it could attack Ukrainians?
14/ On the question of conflicts of interest, I have a non-Iran issue to raise.
It is worth noting that you write articles calling for an end to pressure on Uzbekistan, a terrible human rights violator.
foreignpolicy.com/2020/03/28/int…
15/ Do you think it’s appropriate to call for an end to pressure on Uzbekistan – just like your call to end pressure on Iran – without disclosing to media that you are…..a registered foreign agent for the govt ofUzbekistan? Does that seem ethical?
16/ I suppose what upsets me even more is that you have the ear of people shaping American foreign policy. People like @JarrettBlanc who served as advisor to Rob Malley (@USEnvoyIran).
17/ He gets this information from you -- without you disclosing your conflicts -- and then he goes on TV to say Iran doesn't need regime change.
18/ You’re free to hold whatever views you like, Mr. Batmanghelidj. But please, I beg of you, be honest about the motivation behind those views....
19/ I know it’s hard to walk away from international clients, @yarbatman . But people are being shot in the streets. I swear your clients’ interests & your own financial position isn’t worth being on the side of the ppl doing the shooting. /END
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