The following report by Clare Lopez was published earlier this month by Sharia TipSheet.

Iranian Influence Operation Is Deep Inside the U.S. Government

by Clare M. Lopez

News broke in late September 2023 that an extensive Iranian regime network had succeeded in embedding itself deep inside the Department of Defense and Department of State.

The Islamic Republic of Iran recruited and deployed assets into sensitive official positions across the U.S. national security community in order to sway USG policymaking in favor of Tehran’s foreign policy objectives. Those objectives particularly related to Iran’s nuclear weapons program and secret talks that began in 2012 to enable it to make steady progress toward deployment of a deliverable nuclear weapon without meaningful USG opposition.

This is one of the most serious and damaging compromises of U.S. national security, at least since Soviet/Russian spies of the Cold War and post-Cold War period.

“Iranian Spies Have Infiltrated the American Government, Lawmakers Warn” by Adam Kredo at The Free Beacon, September 27, 2023

“Chief of Staff of Pentagon Counterterrorism Office Served Iranian Gov.” by Daniel Greenfield at Front Page Magazine, September 28, 2023

“Pentagon Looking Into Suspected Case of Official With Iran Ties” at Iran International, September 28, 2023:

• The London-based Iranian dissident Persian-language TV news channel, Iran International, was the first media outlet to obtain “purloined emails” from inside the Iranian regime; how exactly that happened is not publicly known at this time

“High-Level Iranian Spy Ring Busted in Washington” by Lee Smith at Tablet Magazine, October 2, 2023

Excellent and thorough overview of the entire operation and named individuals caught up in it.

“Semafor: ‘Iran Experts Initiative’ included top aides to suspended US diplomat” at the Jewish News Syndicate, September 26, 2023. Concise overview of the full-length Semafor report itself.

“Inside Iran’s influence operation” by Jay Solomon at Semafor, September 26, 2023:

• Jay Solomon, veteran WSJ reporter, obtained the Iranian regime email cache from contacts at Iran International and then wrote this complete report to complement and magnify the Iran International report. The emails reveal extensive details about the Iranian regime’s Foreign Ministry inner workings beginning in 2014, the year before the USG and rest of P5+1 finalized the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA or nuclear deal) with the Iranian regime. The emails also reveal the extent of penetration and co-option by Iran of multiple senior diplomats and other officials inside top levels of U.S. and European policy circles.

“Report: An Iranian Spy Currently Serves as Chief of Staff for Assistant Secretary of Defense For Special Operations” by Debra Heine at American Greatness, October 2, 2023

• Even after former U.S. Special Envoy for Iran Robert Malley lost his security clearance and State Department position, Ariane Tabatabai, one of his key recruits within the Iranian influence operation called “The Iran Experts Initiative” (IEI), continued to serve in her position as chief of staff for the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Special Operations, Christopher Maier.

“Made in Tehran: The Iran Experts Who Swayed U.S. Policy” by Ken Timmerman at The Jewish Policy Center, October 2, 2023

“Member of Iranian Influence Network Visited Biden White House Five Times” by Adam Kredo at The Free Beacon, October 3, 2023

“Inside Tehran’s Soft War: How Iran Gained Influence In US Policy Centers” by Bozorgmehr Sharafedin at iranintl.com (Iran International)

The Sen. Bob Menendez Story: Indicted Recently for Accepting Bribes from Egyptian Business Contacts in New Jersey

Sen. Menendez (D-NJ) stands accused of taking large amounts of money, gold bars, and a Mercedes Benz car in return for influencing USG policy on foreign aid while serving as the Chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. An element of those accusations involves the allegation that Menendez and his wife, Nadine Menendez, took some of those bribes through an Islamic halal meat certifying company in Egypt.

Additionally, Sen. Menendez was working behind the scenes with the Imam Faisal Rauf and a NYC real estate developer to get an Islamic Center and mosque built two blocks from the site of the World Trade Center.

“Sen. Menendez indicted for accepting bribes through halal certifying company with monopoly from Egyptian government” by Robert Spencer at Jihad Watch, September 24, 2023

“Menendez, facing bribery charges involving halal company, got $2 million in public cash for Ground Zero Mosque imam” by Robert Spencer at Jihad Watch, September 25, 2023

“Embattled Sen. Bob Menendez spent years helping developer and imam behind controversial ground zero mosque” by Isabel Vincent at New York Post, September 23, 2023

For previous essays by Clare Lopez at Sharia TipSheet, see the Clare Lopez Archives.