Journalist | Host @IranPodcast | Senior Fellow @CIPolicy | Words in @ForeignPolicy @politico @Independent @theintercept
Aug 12, 2022 • 8 tweets • 4 min read
BREAKING: Author Salman Rushdie, whose book "Satanic Verses" led to death threats from Iran in the 1980s, was just attacked on a lecture stage in New York. The 75-year-old author was pushed or fell to the floor, and the attacker was restrained. npr.org/2022/08/12/111…
Author Salman Rushdie is taken to hospital by a medical helicopter after he was attacked on stage before giving a lecture at Chautauqua Institute in New York.
Nov 8, 2021 • 5 tweets • 2 min read
Iran’s demands for JCPOA return: 1. US must accept wrongdoing. 2. Remove sanctions at once. 3. Guarantee that no other admin will withdraw like Trump.
More context: 1. Iran’s foreign ministry spox says the US must acknowledge they are responsible for the current situation and accept to reverse their path and return to the agreement.
Dec 18, 2020 • 11 tweets • 3 min read
I talked to @IlhanMN about Trump's claims of election fraud, his maximum pressure campaign on Iran, future of US foreign policy towards the Middle East, and her own American story of a young girl who fled wars and eventually became a member of US Congress. responsiblestatecraft.org/2020/12/18/ilh…1. Trump’s claims of election fraud are deeply damaging to our democracy & the cause of democracy around the world. As despots in Brazil & Philippines have copied Trump’s far-right faux populism, politicians will imitate him to undermine democracy.
Good news is Trump is failing.
Dec 6, 2020 • 5 tweets • 1 min read
IRGC officials now say the assassination of Mohsen Fakhrizadeh was done remotely with help of artificial intelligence. There were no attackers on the scene and a machine gun controlled via satellite recognized his face and targeted him. He was with a security team of 11 people.
2. The machine gun shot 13 bullets and only targeted Fakhrizadeh and one security guard who tried to shield him, but not his wife who was a foot away.
This contradicts original reports that said a dozen assassins ambushed his convoy with motorbikes and cars.
Nov 27, 2020 • 32 tweets • 11 min read
BREAKING: Another Iranian nuclear scientist, Mohsen Fakhrizaddh, has been assassinated, Iranian media report. Iran has blamed Israel for past assassinations of nuclear scientists.
Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu named Mohsen Fakhrizadeh in 2018 in a presentation about Iran’s nuclear program.
Via @paulrubens
Oct 28, 2020 • 14 tweets • 14 min read
Women of color are top targets of online attacks, many times from men of our own communities. We should have zero tolerance for online attacks in our community, especially from people involved in human rights organizations funded by our tax dollars like @IHRDC. It is time to act.
It's not enough for us to not engage in online attacks. We must condemn them and hold attackers to account, especially if they are in our circle of friends, associates, coworkers, and board members. Leaders of organizations in our community have the highest responsibility here.
Sep 27, 2020 • 13 tweets • 12 min read
This troll account @khokhlakof systematically attacks and smears journalists, academics, exiled activists, and is now targeting political prisoners inside Iran. Help us report it to @TwitterSupport and @jack and @omidkordestani to put an end to these attacks.
But there is no way for American taxpayers to find out which troll accounts are being sponsored by their tax dollars.
Mar 4, 2020 • 7 tweets • 5 min read
Doctors, nurses and health workers in #Iran are risking their lives to fight #Coronavirus in a shortage of resources and equipment, but they are not losing their spirit.
Another dance video from the frontline of the fight against #Coronavirus in Iran. Every day a new video comes out and energizes and inspires people to keep fighting.
On the night of a military operation with the chance of a retaliatory response and while air defense systems are on highest alert, why allow civilian planes fly over the capital to lead to such a devastating yet preventable tragedy?
#PS572
After a week of official denials that opened the door to lots of rumors and conspiracies, and in the middle of a politicized media atmosphere, this official acknowledgement and detailed explanation is a good first step towards transparency and responsibility. Also unprecedented.
Jan 5, 2020 • 4 tweets • 2 min read
Just spoke to an Iranian-American living in the West coast. He told me his wife and young children were held for 5-6 hours at the US-Canada border while returning home from Vancouver.
SCOOP: State Department gave $1.5 million of our tax dollars to @Memarsadeghi, who has been smearing pro diplomacy Americans for years, to continue her attacks under @IranDisinfo.
And @SGhasseminejad, who works at @FDD and has been smearing Americans for years, works for her.
Maryam Memarsadeghi has been granted millions in tax dollars from State Department in the past decade to promote civic education and tolerance in Iran. While she has repeatedly smeared journalists, academics, activists, and civil society organizations here in the US for years.
Jun 7, 2019 • 11 tweets • 4 min read
As an Iranian-American journalist in exile, I'm used to online attacks. But I didn't expect the State Department to fund them. The @IranDisinfo project repeatedly tried to discredit me. And I wasn't their only target.
My piece for @Independentindependent.co.uk/voices/us-iran…
I recently found out that I am being smeared through an operation funded by the US Department of State. @IranDisinfo launched in 2018 to expose and counter Iranian government propaganda but has also been smearing human rights activists, academics, and journalists, including me.
May 30, 2019 • 56 tweets • 35 min read
So the @StateDept uses taxpayer money to fund online attacks on @HRW because the organization is researching the human cost of US sanctions in #Iran.
“Iran Disinformation Project” website says it was launched in 2018 and is funded by @StateDept Global Engagement Center to expose disinformation coming from the Islamic Republic of Iran. irandisinfo.org
May 14, 2019 • 5 tweets • 1 min read
I spoke to various Iranian political activists over the past few days. All of them are critical of the government, have been working towards a freer and more democratic Iran, and have paid high prices for their activism - from prison to forced migration and exile.
(thread)
SANCTIONS
They all oppose economic sanctions on Iran. Current US sanctions are very broad and target the entire Iranian economy. Their main victims are ordinary Iranians, especially working and middle classes. A weak economy also hurts the civil society and rights movements.
May 7, 2019 • 14 tweets • 4 min read
Trump doesn't want a war with Iran — but he might get one anyway. John Bolton was one of the main architects of the 2003 invasion of Iraq by George W Bush. And today he seems to be playing a similar tune about Iran.
My piece for @Independent independent.co.uk/voices/trump-i…
The chances of war between Iran and the United States have just increased again. A small mistake from either side could now lead to dangerous results — and easily escalate into a disaster for both sides, as well as the entire Middle East.
