Republicans pile on Biden’s ousted Iran envoy after new reports allege aides had links to Tehran

Reports allege three aides to Rob Malley were part of effort supposedly backed by Iran’s foreign ministry

The US-Iran policy sphere erupted into chaos this week after the publication of reports in Semafor and Iran International claiming shadowy links between advisers to the recently-ousted US special envoy to Iran and the Iranian foreign ministry.

Now, a group of House Republicans are raising alarms about the issue and using it as further ammunition against the Biden administration’s outreach efforts to Iran, which this past week bore fruit in the form of the release of seven US citizens held unjustly (according to the US government) by Tehran.

All in all, this latest development is just another example of the chaos that now defines US-Iran relations even under the Biden administration, which promised a return to normalcy after four years of Donald Trump’s whirlwind diplomacy and close brush-ups with war in the region.

Reports from the two news outlets call into question the background of several individuals connected to the Biden administration through Rob Malley, the former US special envoy to Iran. Mr Malley’s own career with the US government came to an abrupt end this past summer after he was placed under review for his handling of classified material, and the State Department has never formally addressed his ouster or the appointment of his replacement.

According to the news outlets, the individuals — Ariane Tabatabai, Dina Esfandiary and Ali Vaez — were all at one point members of a group known as the Iran Experts Initiative. Descriptions of that group have varied: Semafor and Iran International, jointly reporting on documents snatched from the servers of Iran’s government, have described the academics and scholars in the initiative as part of a “quiet effort to bolster Tehran’s image and positions on global security issues”, either explicitly or unknowingly furthering the aims of Iran’s foreign ministry.

In addition to their general support for diplomacy between the West and Iran — which many, including Joe Biden, believe is the best shot for preventing Iran’s religious authoritarian regime from obtaining nuclear weapons — the three are known to be critics of the MEK, a group of Iranian dissidents now residing in Albania. That group, which describes itself as a peaceful, secular and democratic alternative to the Iranian government, is not considered a credible political force by the Biden State Department. It has, however, cultivated important alliances with former Trump Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and former Vice President Mike Pence, a sign the MEK may see increased legitimacy (at least in the eyes of the US government) under a GOP administration.

A spokesman for the National Council of Resistance of Iran, of which the MEK is a principal member, denounced the Iran Experts Initiative, and described the three as longtime opponents to the MEK — a position the NCRI argues effectively serves the interests of hardline conservatives within the Iranian government such as the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC).

“The regime’s network of influencers orchestrated a disinformation crusade, to vilify the MEK and isolate it, to the detriment of Iran’s movement for democratic change, by portraying the regime as a permanent feature with which the West should engage,” said Alireza Jafarzadeh.

Those named in the report have rejected that assertion that they were working for Iran’s government, and accused journalists of falling victim to the boasting deceptions of Iran’s government, which is divided between hardliners who oppose talks with the west and moderates who supported the 2015 nuclear accord with the Obama administration.

The Independent reached out to both Ms Esfandiary and Mr Vaez for interviews to discuss their work with the Iran Experts Initiative and other claims raised in Semafor’s reporting, some of which they disputed on their public social media pages and others which went unaddressed; the two work at Crisis Group, formerly helmed by Mr Malley. There was no response as of Wednesday evening.

Mr Vaez, in a lengthy Twitter thread, denounced the Semafor and Iran International reports as “hatchet journalism” and took issue with the characterisation of the IEI as an Iran-controlled effort. In the reports, he was described as having a close advisory role to Mr Malley during the latter’s service as envoy to Iran, despite his own inability to pass a security clearance check. His access to the envoy was described as close, to the point where Mr Vaez was alleged in the reports to have been drafting Mr Malley’s tweets while the latter was a government official.

“The Iranian correspondence on the IEI is a one-sided and self-congratulatory load of nonsense. They either did not know, or were spinning beyond recognition, an initiative by European think-tankers, with support by a major European govt, to hold occasional policy discussions,” Mr Vaez wrote.

12| The reporters, who often dismiss what Iran says as propaganda, have then doubled the IRI exaggerations with their own characterization of this being some orchestrated network, operating in the shadows, at Tehran's behest - because the regime said so!

— Ali Vaez (@AliVaez) September 26, 2023

Mr Vaez added: “I strongly reject the view that the road to prosperity for Iranians runs through adding to their misery, or that containing IRI threats via pressure/force is preferable to diplomacy.”

Ms Tabatabai, now with the Department of Defense, did not have contact information listed publicly. Her continued service with the Pentagon, which has already been subject to a security clearance assessment standard to many civilian employees of DoD and other agencies, has become a sore point for Republicans who have sought to criticise the Biden administration’s approach to Iran policy.

The House Foreign Affairs Committee released a statement on Wednesday calling on the State Department to be more transparent about Mr Malley’s ouster after the stories were published.

The Armed Services panel has also send a letter to Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin requesting information about Ms Tabatabai’s hiring.