Left-wing billionaire George Soros has funneled more than $50 million to a network of Iran sympathizers whose members have gained significant influence in the Biden White House – pushing to oppose US sanctions on Tehran while supporting a renewed nuclear deal.
A post-examination of Soros’ Open Society Foundations records shows the progressive kingmaker has given a staggering $46.7 million since 2016 to the International Crisis Group, a left-wing think tank tied to Iran’s alleged plot to manipulate US policy.
Robert Malley, the former US special envoy to Iran who is now under FBI investigation for his alleged mishandling of classified material, was ICG president until he joined the Biden administration in 2021.
“Soros continues to fund organizations that act as apologists for the Iranian regime – downplaying their egregious human rights abuses while working to advance Iranian propaganda,” Gabriel Noronha of the Polaris National Security think tank told The Post.
Soros’ cash financed the formation of ICG in 1994, and the billionaire was a trustee for many years before handing the seat to his son and ideological heir Alexander Soros, 38, in 2018.
Left-wing billionaire George Soros has pumped millions into pro-Iran influence groups that are “weakening America,” critics say. AFP via Getty Images Robert Malley, now under FBI investigation for allegedly mishandling government secrets while serving as Biden’s Iran envoy, received millions in aid from Soros when he headed the International Crisis Group think tank. AFP via Getty Images Ali Vaez, a Malley protégé at the ICG and a member of the Iran Expert Initiative, scored the White House meeting with Biden’s top national security official. Getty Images
Three of Malley’s protégés are part of the Iran Experts Initiative, a secretive network of Iranian-American academics established by Iran’s Foreign Ministry in 2014, according to Semafor.
Over the past decade, IEI participants have entered Washington’s foreign policy — subtly persuading US policymakers to ease sanctions on Tehran and acquiesce to its nuclear ambitions.
“If you were a regime running a game plan on how to subvert the United States political system from within, this would be a tee,” Noronha said.
- Malley hired IEI participant Ariane Tabatabai as his top aide when Biden tapped him to lead the US team charged with negotiating a new nuclear deal with Tehran. Tabatabai then switched to a high-level job at the Pentagon with the highest security clearance, where he remains, drawing Republican ire.
- Ali Vaez, another IEI member and now director of the Iran project at the ICG, reportedly sent some of his writings to Iranian officials for pre-publication review. Vaez has logged five White House meetings with Biden’s top national security officials, according to the visitor log.
- Malley hired Dina Esfandiary, a third IEI member, as a senior adviser to the ICG. In 2021, he and Vaez co-authored an essay hailing the election of Iran’s hardline president Ebrahim Raisi as “a real opportunity to make progress in nuclear negotiations.”
Malley’s appointment in 2021 coincides with the administration’s turn away from former president Donald Trump’s “maximum pressure” sanctions on Iran’s oil exports. Biden’s lax enforcement has reportedly netted the mullahs $95 billion.
Iran’s hardline president Ebrahim Raisi was praised by IEI members Ali Vaez and Dina Esfandiary. POOL/AFP via Getty Images The Iranian regime displays a Sejjil missile in Tehran in 2017 — part of its developing nuclear weapons program. AP
In February 2023, Vaez scored two lengthy one-on-one meetings with Brett McGurk, Biden’s Middle East and North Africa coordinator, while McGurk was secretly negotiating with his Iranian counterpart to restart nuclear talks.
Soon after, the administration made a controversial deal to release $6 billion in frozen Iranian funds in exchange for five American hostages.
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Meanwhile, Malley’s son, Blaise Malley, 25, works for an Iran-sympathetic think tank, the Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft, which also welcomes Soros — even though founder Trita Parsi was found by a US court to be believed to be accused of acting as an “advocate for the regime ” through the non-profit National Council of Iranian Americans after he brought a defamation suit claiming this was false.
Since 2019, Soros has given Quincy — who says he supports “conservatism” in US foreign policy — $1.8 million, plus $100,000 to the Persian NIAC.
“NIAC and Quincy are Russia Today of the Iranian Regime,” Iran dissident Masih Alinejad write in 2022.
Soros cash has also been indirectly funneled to Iranian applicants through leftist groups such as the Plowshares Fund and the Rockefeller Brothers Fund.
In 2021, for example, when OSF gave Plowshares $300,000, Plowshares showered $225,000 — $75,000 each — on ICG, NIAC Action and the Quincy Institute.
This year, Plowshares awarded Vaez a direct grant of an unspecified amount.
OSF and Soros have funneled more than $15 million since 2016 to groups behind recent pro-Hamas protests in the US, The Post has reported.
The Quincy Trita Parsi Institute and the National Council of Iranian Americans also received Soros grants. Getty Images Alex Soros (left) and father George have drawn millions into Iran apologist circles, critics say. via REUTERS
“We appreciate the contributions we receive from across the political spectrum and have always been transparent about that support on our website,” said Jessica Rosenblum of the Quincy Institute.
“The group is committed to promoting international and regional peace and security,” said an OSF spokesperson. “No one has ever worked on behalf of the government of the Islamic Republic.”
“I don’t know what Soros’ vision is about Iran,” Noronha said. “But the things they routinely fund are things that weaken America, internally and externally.”
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Source: thtrangdai.edu.vn/en/
