"There was a media smear campaign unleashed against Ariane Tabatabai, an Iranian-American official at the Pentagon,jeremy scahill
suggesting she was behind this leak. The DoJ has now indicted a CIA official in the case.
Will those who smeared Tabatabai apologize?"
Ariane Tabatabai
McCarthyism refers to a period in the United States during the early 1950s when Senator Joseph McCarthy led efforts to identify and remove supposed communists and communist sympathizers from American society. The term has since become synonymous with the practice of making unsubstantiated accusations of disloyalty or subversion without proper evidence. It is often seen as a time of intense political repression and fear. Hysteria is exaggerated or uncontrollable emotion or excitement, especially among a group of people. A Witch Hunt is an attempt to find and punish a particular group of people who are being blamed for something, often simply because of their opinions and not because they have actually done anything wrong.
Pentagon official Arian Tabatbai, who was under suspicion of leaking U.S. intelligence on Israel’s plans regarding Iran, was reassigned 29 Octobe 2024 to a role with restricted access to sensitive information. Tabatabai, an American of Iranian origin and a senior staffer in the office of Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin was identified as the leaker of the classified documents dealing with the Israeli preparations for an attack on Iran, Sky News Arabic reported on 22 October 2024, quoting a senior Pentagon Source. "A Pentagon official told Sky News Arabia that the investigation being conducted by intelligence agencies in Washington indicates “suspicion” of the involvement of a senior Pentagon employee."
Sky News Arabia's special analyst, Muwaffaq Harb, said that all hypotheses are on the table in this case, especially since the suspect holds a high position in the Pentagon, has a top-secret security report, and also has Iranian origins. He stressed that the Iranian origins of the Pentagon employee suspected of leaking the information complicate the matter, as in another case the issue could have been linked to something similar to what happened in the " Pentagon Papers " case, or the leaking of information by American figures who believed they were providing information that could stop a certain matter.
Harb added, "What makes the matter more complicated is the disclosure and discussion of the suspect in a previous message, as it is natural that she will be subject to further investigations and a top-secret security examination again." He continued, no one currently knows whether the suspect works for the Iranian government or whether she decided on her own to take a certain step that would avoid a large-scale war. Speaker of the US House of Representatives, Mike Johnson, immediately after the publication of these leaks, contacted Netanyahu, after believing that the US administration sought to do so in order to gain time, embarrass Israel and force it to modify its expected plans to strike Iran.
Fox News reported from their sources that the report is false and that the staffer was at work and retains her security clearance. The Pentagon denied that Ariane Tabatabai, Chief of Staff of the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Special Operations, is a subject of interest according to Jerusalem Post.
At a Pentagon briefing on 22 October 2024, DoD spokesman Maj. Gen. Patrick Ryder referenced public commentary that a specific Pentagon official should be looked at as a possible suspect. “To my knowledge, this official is not a subject of interest,” Ryder said without naming Tabatabai. “I don’t want to start throwing out names to perpetuate information,” he said, adding, “to my knowledge, the official that was being referenced is not a subject of interest. So I’ll just leave it there.”
Ariane Tabatabai kept her role and security clearance as a top Pentagon official despite being named as part of an Iranian influence campaign in leaked emails. “Ms. Tabatabai’s employment and clearance processes were carried out in accordance with all appropriate laws and policies,” Pentagon official Rheanne E. Wirkkala wrote to Sen. Joni Ernst (R-Iowa). The Senator responded "Biden's DoD is REFUSING to revoke the security clearance of an Iranian spy working at the Pentagon. More of @POTUS's appeasement strategy that has emboldened the IRGC & its proxies, like Hamas, & threatened our nat'l security. I will continue holding the admin accountable."
Ariane Tabatabai, the chief of staff to the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Special Operations and Low Intensity Conflict, was reportedly engaged in an Iranian government-linked initiative to bolster the Iranian government’s image, expand Tehran’s soft power in the United States and reinforce Tehran’s national security views. Tabatabai reportedly was a founding member of the Iran Experts Initiative (IEI), a group of policy analysts in America led by senior Iranian Foreign Ministry officials to propagate Iran’s objectives during the nuclear deal negotiations and bolster Tehran’s reputation. Leaked emails show Tabatabai asking the Iranian government for input on her speaking engagements and offering to consult with the Iranian government on a congressional briefing that she was invited to give. Tabatabai was alleged to be involved in an Iranian government influence operation. There was some discussion about whether she should keep her security clearance. She did. And thereafter she served as the Chief of Staff for the office overseeing hostage negotiations.
By 2020 Tabatabai was Associate Political Scientist, Rand Corporation and Adjunct Senior Research Scholar, Columbia University School of International and Public Affairs. She was also a Truman National Security Fellow and a Council of Foreign Relations member. Previously, she served as a visiting assistant professor of security studies Georgetown University, Edmund A. Walsh School of Foreign Service, was international consultant for NATO, and held several positions for the Harvard Kennedy School Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs.
On 26 September 2023, Semafor reported that Ariane Tabatabai, who currently served as chief of staff to the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Special Operations and Low Intensity Conflict (SOLIC), was part of a so-called Iran Experts Initiative that “senior Iranian Foreign Ministry officials initiated [in] a quiet effort to bolster Tehran's image and positions on global security issues - particularly its nuclear program.”
According to communications that Semafor reviewed, Ms. Tabatabai agreed to join the Iranian government-linked Initiative in early 2014, after meeting a Germany-based Iranian diplomat in Prague. On at least two occasions, Ms. Tabatabai “checked in with Iran's Foreign Ministry before attending policy events.” The report details one occasion in which an Iranian think tank chief, who acted as an apparent liaison to the Iranian Foreign Minister, dissuaded Ms. Tabatabai from participating in a conference in Israel when she asked for his feedback. The report also indicates that Ms. Tabatabai potentially sought the Iranian government's input on a congressional briefing that she was invited to give in July 2014.
Concerns about Ms. Tabatabai are not new. In March 2021, shortly after Ms. Tabatabai was appointed senior adviser in the Office of the Undersecretary of State for Arms Control and International Security, Iranian dissidents noted Ms. Tabatabai's long history of echoing the Iranian regime's talking points. In April 2021, several House members requested a review of Ms. Tabatabai's security clearance. In response, the Biden administration dismissed these allegations as “smears and slander.”
The latest allegations reported in Semafor, however, indicate that Ms. Tabatabai may have been engaged in a relationship with the Iranian regime well beyond what even her strongest critics alleged. The fact that the Department initially responded to these latest allegations by rushing a full-throated defense of Ms. Tabatabai, rather than taking the time to ensure that our national security has not been compromised, suggests that you are protecting hiring missteps rather than prioritizing national security.
Iran continues to threaten U.S. military personnel in the Middle East and remains intent on assassinating American citizens here in the United States. Given these facts, we find it simply unconscionable that a senior Department official would continue to hold a sensitive position despite her alleged participation in an Iranian government information operation. While we note that Assistant Secretary of Defense for SOLIC Christopher Maier, who is Ms. Tabatabai's current supervisor, testified before the House that the Department is “actively looking into whether all law and policy was properly followed in granting my chief of staff top secret special compartmented information”.
On 29 September 2023 US Senator Roger Wicker, R-Miss., ranking member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, led a letter signed by 30 of his Senate Republican colleagues demanding a full accounting of actions taken by a senior Pentagon official who has close links to the Iranian government. In the letter, the senators suggested that it is “unconscionable” for Tabatabai to continue holding a sensitive national defense-related position and called for the immediate suspension of her security clearance.
“Iran continues to threaten U.S. military personnel in the Middle East and remains intent on assassinating American citizens here in the United States. Given these facts, we find it simply unconscionable that a senior Department official would continue to hold a sensitive position despite her alleged participation in an Iranian government information operation,” the senators wrote. “While we note that Assistant Secretary of Defense for SOLIC Christopher Maier, who is Ms. Tabatabai's current supervisor, testified before the House on Thursday that the Department is “actively looking into whether all law and policy was properly followed in granting my chief of staff top secret special compartmented information,” we urge you to suspend Ms. Tabatabai's security clearance immediately pending further review, as the State Department did with her former supervisor, Robert Malley.”
The senators also posed a range of questions related to the nature and extent of Tabatabai’s involvement with the Iran-backed initiative, demanding answers within a week of transmitting the letter. Although the Pentagon initially defended her, they later initiated a review into her security clearance process, investigating whether proper protocols were followed. This scrutiny has extended into 2024, with ongoing congressional inquiries about her role and background. Republican lawmakers, including Senator Tom Cotton and Representative Elise Stefanik, raised concerns about her connection to Kamala Harris's national security advisor, Philip Gordon, with whom she has co-authored articles allegedly favoring Iranian positions. The situation remained a point of contention, as some officials have defended Tabatabai, while others have called for deeper investigations.
“Almost one year after I demanded the Department of Defense open an investigation… we continue to find out concerning details regarding the access and influence Ms. Tabatabai has within the Biden-Harris administration," Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-NY) said, according to the Free Beacon. "Ms. Tabatabai’s concerning close ties to Kamala Harris’s national security adviser and their attempts to prop up the Iranian regime by brazenly publishing pro-Iran opinion pieces together is a matter that warrants our highest scrutiny.” Harris’s national security adviser is Phil Gordon who has co-authored opinion pieces with Tabatabai against US sanctions on Iran.
In October 2023, Steve Bannon and Kash Patel warned that an Iranian spy network was influencing the Biden-Harris administration’s intelligence priorities, identifying Robert Malley, Ariane Tabatabai, and Maher Bitar.
Kamala Harris' national security advisor Philip Gordon was connected to Ariane Tabataba. Before joining Harris' office, Gordon co-authored at least three opinion pieces with Tabatabai that some thought were promoting the Iranian regime’s perspective and interests. In a March 2020 piece, Gordon and Tabatabai claimed continued sanctions on Iran would create “catastrophe” in the Middle East. In another, they wrote sanctions could lead to new Iranian efforts to “lash out with attacks on its neighbors, and on Americans and American interests in the Middle East.” Gordon was also closely associated with the National Iranian American Council (NIAC), another Iranian influence organization that allegedly collaborates with Tehran. He spoke at the NIAC’s Leadership Conference in both 2014 and 2016.
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