Anti-Israel New York Times Scribbler to Give Keynote Address for Iran Lobby

November 4, 2014 by Daniel Greenfield 3 Comments

Daniel Greenfield, a Shillman Journalism Fellow at the Freedom Center, is a New York writer focusing on radical Islam. He is completing a book on the international challenges America faces in the 21st century.

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The New York Times’ Roger Cohen likes to talk about the Israeli Lobby. He doesn’t have much to say about the Iran Lobby. But he has a lot to say to them.

Anti-Israel New York Times columnist Roger Cohen is going to be speaking at a fundraiser for the National Iranian American Council – the de facto representative of the Iranian regime in the United States.

You are cordially invited to attend NIAC’s Bay Area Fundraiser on Saturday, November 15th (just 9 days before a potential U.S.-Iran nuclear deal!) featuring keynote addresses by Roger Cohen from the New York Times and Kamran Elahian, an entrepreneur and Co-Founder of Global Catalyst Partners and Bridge 2014.

The Obama admin is already full of NIAC vets like Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel and Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Iran John Limbert.

Mohsen Makhmalbalf, an established leader in Iran’s Green Movement, said of Parsi, “I feel his lobbying has secretly been more for the Islamic republic.”  When reached for comment, Amir Fakhravar, an Iranian jailed dissident and recipient of the Annie Taylor Journalism Award, said of NIAC, “You cannot find any difference between their statements and the Iranian regime’s statements. Either officially or unofficially, they are following the path of the regime.”

NIAC came to fruition in 1999, when Trita Parsi was at a conference in Cyprus being held under the auspices of the Iranian regime.  During the conference, Parsi laid out his plan to introduce a pro-regime lobbying group to counteract the sentiments and influence allegedly purported by America’s pro-Israel and anti-regime advocacy groups.

Internal documents, unveiled as a result of the National Iranian American Council’s failed defamation lawsuit against an investigative journalist, reveal that Parsi had been maintaining a close relationship with Iranian defense Minister Javad Zarif for several years.  Zarif was recently photographed laying a wreath honoring a former Hezb’allah commander who was responsible for the deaths of countless American lives, as he was the mastermind behind the 1983 Marine barracks bombing in Beirut, Lebanon.

A perfect fit for the New York Times and Roger Cohen.