1/ 🧵As Iran's regime collapses, NIAC and the rest of the #IranLobby are desperate to pretend they have not defended it for years. They're putting out messaging that says they've "always" supported "regime change led by the Iranian people".
Is that true? #مهسا_امینی
2/ I could probably write a 500-tweet thread about how NIAC has talked about regime change over the years. But I'm just gonna do a few tweets to see if they've always been in favour of people-led regime change. (Aside: does NIAC not know that Twitter has a search function?)
3/ Former NIAC president, Trita Parsi
* Regime Change is a false promise
* it's dangerous to romanticize regime change
* it's not what Iranians want; it's a DC cottage industry
* Trump shouldn't have encouraged Iranians to do regime change.
4/ Current NIAC president Jamal Abdi
* talking about regime change undermines human rights. diplomacy (giving the regime $) is "the only viable path"
5/ Research Director, Assal Rad
* if we're gonna call for regime change in Iran, we should do the same in the US over the George Floyd killing. (the premise is that both regimes are the same)
* reference to "Iranians seeking regime change" is hilarious when it shows up on TV.
6/ One more from Assal Rad:
* when there's a pandemic -- in which the supreme leader bans the import of vaccines -- it's wrong to "politicize" things and push for regime change.
7/ Sina "escalated situation" Toosi, former NIAC staff (director of policy, i believe)
* US policy should be based on "good faith engagement" (giving the regime $) not "quixotic" regime change.
* Pushing regime change is "destructive". It's "hatched by authoritarians".
8/ NIAC itself, organizationally
* regime change ppl are like "radicals in Tehran [and] monarchists". The right path is the "Mousavi & reformism current".
* regime change is what ppl outside want but "many inside would oppose". (that insight courtesy of @sanambna
9/ I searched high and low for referenceds to "people led regime change" or "regime change led by the people".
Despite NIAC having "always" having supported that policy (😂) I couldn't find it on their Twitter or website.
10/ I don't even want to provide commentary.
You be the judge. Does the above show an organization that "support[s] regime change led by the Iranian people"?
NIAC, how do you say that with a straight face?
1/ There's a video circulating -& sent to me by many -of ppl yelling at the Richmond Hill MP on the streets of Toronto. I won't share the video here but it's not hard to find.
I've been thinking about it and am trying to formulate my exact thoughts. Think of this as a draft.
2/ I doubt anyone in the Iranian-Canadian community (or in Canada generally) has been more critical than me of MP Jowhari. I've been persistent in critizing him for his Tehran-friendly positions & friends.
But that video left me deeply unsettled.
3/ What I write here is not directed at people *inside* Iran. I'm in absolutely no position to tell them how they should express their rage & their rightful political demands.
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”.
1/ The #IranLobby is under immense pressure. I love it. Keep it up!
2 developments:
2/ Touraj Darayee, prof at UC Irvine, occasionally linked to NIAC (I can't say how deeply linked; I honestly don't know) and thesis advisor to Assal Rad, NIAC's research director, feels pressured enough to put out video (see next tweet) distancing himself from the org.
1/ Hi @rezaaslan -- I know you're peddling a book about Howard Baskerville these days, so it's good business to be a "revolutionary" all of a sudden.
But is this you, lauding Iran's elections and talking about how Iranians want Chinese-style govt "in a heartbeat"? #IranLobby
2/ Is this you writing with Trita Parsi, the IRI's single greatest apologist in West, criticizing exiles (you know, those that barely escaped with their lives) for saying that Iran's elections are a sham?
3/ Is this you, just 2 years ago when the winds were blowing in a different direction, arguing that Iran is not *actually* a theocracy, but one with "a remarkably modern and surprisingly enlightened constitutional framework" that guarantees a lot of rights?
The #IranRevolution has made clear that Iranians despise their regime.
I'm looking at some Iran commentators to assess what they conveyed to Western audiences over the years.
Today: What the #IranLobby said about Qassem Soleimani
2/ To start, Soleimani's background: in short, he was a mass murderer.
> he & other IRGC commanders demanded that Prez Khatami crush the Iran's student protesters in 1999
> His Quds Force carried out attacks in Thailand, New Delhi, Lagos, and Nairobi
3/
> he was behind many of the IED attacks in Iraq.
> killed tens of thousands, including women and children, in Syria.
As soon as the #IranRevolution began, one of the first acts of revolutionaries, in his hometown, was to rip down his picture.
1/ Here is Mohammad Ali Shabani, editor of Amwaj Media (@amwajmedia). He's from Sweden, but now seems to be in London.
According to the regime's own media (Mehr News), he began work at NIAC & then travelled down a natural pipeline to work for the regime's Press TV. #IranLobby
2/ According to Mehr News, Shabani served as go-between for Zarif, setting up meetings for the FM with Gary Sick (Columbia), @alivaez (Crisis Group & close Rob Malley [Biden's Iran envoy] associate, @rparsi (brother of NIAC's Trita). He also aided the IRI's nuke negotiation team.
3/ According to Mehr News, the reason Zarif kept Shabani around was that he had ready accesss to large int'l media. @CNN , @nytimes , etc. (In NYT w/ former ambo to Germany -- on whose watch ppl were murdered in Berlin -- Mousavian)