PHILADELPHIA – August 18, 2023 – A major investigative report published by the Middle East Forum points to a network of businesses and charities in the United States tied to terror-designated and sanctioned entities in Iran, all funded by sale of pistachios.
The investigative essay, published at Focus on Western Islamism, follows a six-month investigation by researchers in both Iran and the United States. The investigation uncovered a network of entities established and run by multiple members of a single Iranian-American family that exerts substantial control over the American and Iranian pistachio industries, and which holds significant real estate and business interests across Southern California.
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Researchers found that this network of individuals works closely with Iranian regime entities controlled by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), a designated terrorist organization under U.S. law, along with banks and other institutions sanctioned by the U.S. Treasury Department.
Investigations into the finances of a series of 501(c)(3) charities controlled by this network uncovered pistachio money disbursed to a wide variety of "radical causes in the United States, including Far-Right conspiracy theorists, Far-Left supporters of Tehran, Islamist charities, and organizations long accused of serving as lobbyists or proxies for the Iranian regime."
One of the family members, Ali Amin, received a 2015 conviction for illegally transporting $17 million from Iran to the United States – a crime in which other family members were implicated, leading to at least one additional prosecution.
It is not clear if federal prosecutors were aware, however, of the family's continued collaboration with Iranian regime and IRGC entities in Iran, as uncovered by FWI.
In light of FWI's discoveries, Middle East Forum director Gregg Roman says authorities must act swiftly: "The federal government has the necessary tools at its disposal to tackle these issues, yet violations of Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) rules are prosecuted selectively. Although dozens of proxy entities and 501(c) fronts for hostile powers and ideological movements operate in the U.S., few are investigated by the Department of Justice and its Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA) team."
Roman added that bipartisan demands for action by federal officials is necessary to prevent U.S. security from being further undermined from within. "Absent enforcement by DOJ, Treasury, and the FBI," he said, "networks operating in America and tied to terror-designated Iranian regime entities will continue to advance Tehran's interests right here on American soil."
The Middle East Forum promotes American interests in the region and protects Western civilization from Islamism. It does so through a combination of original ideas, focused activism, and the funding of allies.
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For more information, contact:
Sam Westrop
westrop@meforum.org
+1 (215) 546 5406
