Islamic Republic of Iran's Lobbyists and Spies Are in Our Midst?

Islamic Republic of Iran's Lobbyists and Spies Are in Our Midst?
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The recent Executive Order affecting immigration by citizens of seven countries has prompted fierce discussion from all quarters, including arguments on who does or does not actually endanger the national security of the United States. As we wait to see how that debate plays out in the weeks and months ahead, there is a sense among some that we may be closing the proverbial barn door after the horse has run.

Some argue that there are people already in the US, whose words and deeds on behalf of foreign powers critically threaten America and its allies. Iran is one of the countries named in the President's Executive Action. It goes without saying that the Islamic Republic of Iran remains the number one state sponsor of terrorism according to the State Department.

However, more fundamentally, some think that the focus should also be on the threat coming from a well-knit group and gilded circle of the Islamic Republic of Iran's operatives or lobbyists, who are determined to satisfy their paymaster by cajoling, prodding and persuading US policy-makers into believing that appeasement, lifting of sanctions on IRGC, and a soft touch is the only way to contain the top state sponsor of terrorism. But appeasement policies have not worked, any reasonable observer will interject.

As Michael Flynn wrote "Every day we see evidence of Iranian espionage in the United States...". Some believe that some of Iran's lobbyists and operatives work or lobby illegally without registration in plain sights while other act less conspicuously in every critical sector of the American society.

Some believe that they can ill-afford to allow their presence among them, and in particular their access to our politicians and officials. And finally, they believe that Iranian agents pose a real and present danger and they should be dealt with swiftly and decisively.

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Harvard-educated, Dr. Majid Rafizadeh is an American political scientist, president of the International American Council on the Middle East, business advisor, and best-selling author. He serves on the advisory board of Harvard International Review. Dr. Rafizadeh is frequently invited to brief governmental and non-governmental organizations as well as speak, as a featured speaker, at security, business, diplomatic, and social events. He has been recipient of several fellowships and scholarships including from Oxford University, Annenberg, University of California Santa Barbara, Fulbright program, to name few He is regularly quoted and invited to speak on national and international outlets including CNN, BBC World TV and Radio, ABC, Aljazeera English, Fox News, CTV, RT, CCTV America, Skynews, CTV, and France 24 International, to name a few. . He analyses have appeared on academic and non-academic publications including New York Times International, Los Angeles Times, CNN, Farred zakaria GPS, The Atlantic, Foreign Policy, The Nation, The National. Aljazeera, The Daily Beast, The Nation, Jerusalem Post, The Economic Times, USA Today Yale Journal of International Affairs, Georgetown Journal of International Affairs, and Harvard International Review. He is a board member of several significant and influential international and governmental institutions, and he is native speaker of couple of languages including Persian, English, and Arabic. He also speaks Dari, and can converse in French, Hebrew. More at Harvard.

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