Heshmat Alavi Profile picture
Aug 22 30 tweets 23 min read
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. ImageImageImage
@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. Image
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. Image
@Cargill 4)
He's wealthy enough to own, possibly among other assets, a $10.5 million condo in Manhattan.

realtyhop.com/property-recor… Image
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. ImageImage
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. ImageImage
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. ImageImageImageImage
10)
Handjani also signed a January 2020 letter of solidarity with NIAC.

niacouncil.org/press_room/let… ImageImage
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. ImageImageImageImage
@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.” Image
@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)
ImageImageImageImage
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." Image
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. ImageImageImageImage
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. ImageImageImageImage
@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 ImageImageImageImage
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. ImageImageImage
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. Image
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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More from @HeshmatAlavi

Aug 21
Iranians have launched an online campaign calling on the U.S. government to not issue a visa for #Iran's regime President Ebrahim Raisi as he intends to attend next month's UN General Assembly in New York.
#NoVisa4Raisi
#ProsecuteRaisiNow
#Iran's President Ebrahim Raisi is a mass murderer who played a direct role in Iran's summer #1988Massacre of political prisoners.
Raisi wants to address the UN General Assembly.
The UN is no place for mass murderers.
#NoVisa4Raisi
#VictimsOfTerrorism
#Iran's people know Raisi as for his role in the summer #1988Massacre when over 30,000 political prisoners were executed in a few months.
#NoVisa4Raisi
Read 14 tweets
Aug 19
THREAD

1)
#Iran opposition @NCRIUS Rep. Office held a conference on Aug 17 with US/European dignitaries on Iran’s nuclear program 20 years after revelations of the regime’s nuclear sites & the failed Obama/Biden policies.

#Natanz20

First, some history.
2)
Sen. @JoeLieberman
"We ought to talk away from the negotiations in Vienna... We tried engagement. We continue to repeat the same thing with the same awful result."

#IranTalks
#Natanz20
@JoeLieberman 3)
Sen. @JoeLieberman

There was bipartisan pressure from the U.S. on #Iran’s nuclear program until 2015 when the Obama admin threw away all that for nothing, on a belief they could contain the mullahs’ regime.
#Natanz20
Read 12 tweets
Aug 18
THREAD

1)
#Iran’s nuclear program 20 years after the @NCRIUS’ revelation of the regime’s then secret Natanz and Arak nuclear sites.
#Natanz20
@NCRIUS 2)
@A_Jafarzadeh:
“The Natanz revelation was groundbreaking and important. It really awakened the world about the Iranian regime’s nuclear weapons program.”
#Iran
#Natanz20
3)
@AmbJohnBolton
“… the palpable evidence that was presented made in inescapable that #Iran had an advanced, sophisticated nuclear program that was almost surely pointed at the development of nuclear weapons”
#Natanz20
Read 11 tweets
Aug 17
#Iran opposition NCRI-US Conference examining Tehran’s nuclear agenda

Marking the 20th anniversary of the Natanz revelation

Washington, DC

#Natanz20
twitter.com/i/broadcasts/1…
.@A_Jafarzadeh explains the impact of @NCRIUS' revelations back in August 2002 of #Iran's nuclear sites in Natanz and Arak.
#Natanz20
twitter.com/i/broadcasts/1…
.@AmbJohnBolton describes what the U.S. administration at the time was focusing on and how the @NCRIUS' 2002 revelations changed America's perspective of #Iran's clandestine nuclear program.
#Natanz20
twitter.com/i/broadcasts/1…
Read 6 tweets
Aug 16
.@StateDeptSpox claims the Biden admin has enforced sanctions against #Iran.

He is lying.

November 2, 2021
"Iranian Oil Sales to China Skyrocket as Experts Say Biden Admin Turns Blind Eye to Sanctions Enforcement"
freebeacon.com/national-secur…

January 28, 2022
COTTON, COLLEAGUES CALL ON BIDEN TO ENFORCE SANCTIONS ON IRANIAN OIL TANKERS

"Iranian currency reserves soared from just $4 billion at the end of 2020 to $31 billion at the end of 2021."
cotton.senate.gov/news/press-rel…
August 2, 2022

Cash Bonanza: #Iran Has Made $44.7 Billion in Illegal Oil Sales Since Biden Took Office

Tehran slated to sell China $27 billion in oil this year
freebeacon.com/national-secur…
Read 4 tweets
Aug 16
#BREAKING
Footage of massive explosions in Crimea, southern #Ukraine

"An ammunition depot near Dzhankoi was destroyed this morning. Home to a Russian Air base but not clear where the explosion occurred," says @KyleJGlen. "Area said to be Maiske/Azovske, SE of Zhankoi itself."
#UPDATE
"Ukraine appears to be launching additional attacks on Crimea. The U.S. has provided them with long-range strike capabilities that make this possible," says @ClintEhrlich.

#Crimea #Ukraine #Russia Image
According to Crimea Inform, a fire broke out at a transformer substation in the town of Dzhankoy, and some ammunition detonated at a depot in the village of Maiske

Via @KyivIndependent Image
Read 8 tweets

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