On Tuesday, September 23, Lary King, far from his usual challenging demeanor, offered Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad ample opportunity to present his case. The final touch was to give him a human face. “Do you have children?” King asked the brutal dictator. “How old are they?” he followed, giving Ahmadinejad an opportunity to present his “human” side.

On September 25th 2008, five American religious groups will host the Iranian president Mahmood Ahmadinejad, as they did last year during his 2007 visit to the UN.

It is safe to assume that the purpose of the dinner won’t be a group interfaith prayer session. This event follows a series of trips by some American religious groups to Tehran. In fact, when these groups are not busy hosting Ahmadinejad here, they are hosted by him in Tehran.

Kayvan Kaboli, a member of “Progressive American-Iranian Committee” (PAIC). He has been a political activist for 30 years with particular interest in environmental and peace issues. At the moment he is striving to establish an international alliance composed of democratic and secular forces against the Tehran’s Islamic Republic.

QUESTION:  Last time we discussed the new calls for negotiating with the Iranian ayatollahs. You talked about the fact that negotiating with the Iranian government is really not new and it has been going on for the last three decades to no avail. So if we should not negotiate with the Mullahs and if as […]

The relentless promotion of the hope for moderate rulers in Tehran has undoubtedly caused confusion in the American foreign policy. The price of this confusion has been heavy and has included the lives of Americans, billions of dollars of tax payers’ money, and even worse, the looming threat of Tehran’s mullahs as a nuclear super power dominant in the region. If it was not for the high cost, I would have found this game of “Where in the World is the Moderate Ayatollah” very amusing.

In fact Hamyaran which organized the workshop is not an NGO but a government initiated false flag agency incepted, initiated, founded and managed by the theocratic regime of Iran. At the time Hamyaran was managed by the Deputy Minister and Under Secretary of Health Hossein Malek- Afzali.

The United States’ goal is to create a back door channel to the mullahs in Iran, a de-facto Iranian embassy. Nevertheless, this “embassy” is acting more like a Trojan horse than an ambassadorial channel. These former diplomats are field commanders for running the mullahs lobby machinery, rather than peace ambassadors bridging nations.

The last and probably the most catastrophic chapter of secret dealings with Iran happened under President Bush and with respect to Iraq. US was involved in secrete dialogues with Iran prior to invading Iraq. The US was well aware that the Iraq’s future, at least for several years, would be under the Iranian influence. Prior to May 3rd, 2003, when the last meeting was held between the two countries in Geneva, US had bent backwards to appease Tehran’s rulers, hopping that in return, Iran will be less intrusive in Iraq’s affairs. We now know that it was a futile wish

There are two distinct but related groups of people and organizations that are active in manipulating US policy toward Iran. The first is what I call the “Iranian regime’s lobby” in the U.S. They are present in US media, think-tanks and a potpourri of various organizations. Their lobby activities are also focused on the US Congress. These groups have various degrees of connections to Tehran. The second group operates in conjunction with US business interests, and in particular with the oil industry.

Shockingly, Balli Group represents the US Corporations Xerox and Caterpillar in Iran, and has numerous partnerships with other US corporations. How could the US companies enter the Iranian market while there are now more sanctions against Iran than there were a decade ago? These companies have profited from the loopholes in the sanction laws. Their actions have been possible because of the lack of political will in the US in enforcing the sanctions and closing its loopholes.