Biden Administration Shows Teeth To Iran's Proxy Forces

In a letter dated February 5 addressed to Attorney General Merrick Garland, a copy of which was obtained by Iran International, US Representative Jim Banks (R-IN), Elise Stefanik (R-NY) and Mike Waltz (R-Fl) call for an investigation into the potential violation of the Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA) by the ICG, a think tank that advises the US government.

An investigation by Iran International, published last week, showed that the Iranian government in 2016 signed a previously undisclosed agreement with the International Crisis Group, and used the organization to lobby the Obama administration on its behalf about nuclear issues.

According to a cache of documents obtained by Iran International, the Crisis Group signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the Iranian Foreign Ministry’s in-house think tank, the Institute for Political and International Studies (IPIS), but never made it public. The MoU outlined a framework for “scientific and academic interactions,” aimed to “promote and intensify the friendship and the mutual understanding,” the documents showed.

“FARA requires all individuals in the United States acting as agents of foreign principals to regularly disclose their status and activities as a foreign agent to the Department of Justice,” the lawmakers noted in their letter to Mr. Garland. They emphasized that the law was meant to prevent organizations operating in the United States “from secretly serving the interests of a foreign power and to provide transparency to reduce foreign agents’ ability to credibly promote propaganda from hostile governments.”

The Crisis Group is headquartered in Belgium, but also maintains “a substantial presence in the United States,” according to the lawmakers. “While the Crisis Group ostensibly conducts research on conflict resolution, recent reporting has revealed that the group has a disturbing and longstanding official relationship with the government of Iran,” they said.

More than 50 Western research institutions - including the Crisis Group - had boycotted the Iranian foreign ministry’s IPIS for hosting a anti-Holocaust conference in 2006, but the Crisis Group was one of two organizations that reversed course and signed a formal agreement with the IPIS a decade later.

A half-dozen leaders in Western think tanks expressed surprise to Iran International and Semafor, our partner in the investigation, that the Crisis Group entered into a formal research agreement with the IPIS and said the partnerships with foreign governments, especially Iran, could raise concerns about the think tank's objectivity and potential lobbying for foreign interests.

A sanctions attorney based in Washington, who requested anonymity, said that from a legal liability perspective, there was a question of whether the Crisis Group complied with the registration requirements outlined in FARA or the Lobbying Disclosure Act if they were actively advocating for Iranian interests within the United States.

Responding to questions on this occasion, the think tank told Iran International, “Crisis Group only acts to resolve conflict, not for or on any country's behalf. Iran’s threats to our staff and accusations that we work for the US and Israeli governments have been ongoing for more than a decade and underscore our independence. We are fully compliant with U.S. law.”

However, the members of Congress concluded their letter by demanding a Justice Department investigation. “There is a clear pattern of behavior indicating that the Crisis Group is in fact not an independent organization, but a chief mouthpiece of the Islamic Republic of Iran in the United States. Given this evidence, we urge you to launch an investigation of the Crisis Group without delay for potential FARA violations to protect our nation from malign foreign influence.”

"(US) forces conducted a unilateral strike in Iraq in response to the attacks on US service members, killing a Kataib Hezbollah commander responsible for directly planning and participating in attacks on US forces in the region," a statement from the military said. It did not name the commander.

Two security sources, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the commander was Abu Baqir al-Saadi, killed in a drone strike on a vehicle in eastern Baghdad.

One of the sources said three people were killed and that the vehicle targeted was used by Iraq's Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF), a state security agency composed of dozens of armed groups, many of them backed by Iran.

Three US troops were killed in January in a drone attack near the Jordan-Syria border that the Pentagon said bore the "footprints" of Kataib Hezbollah. The group then announced it was suspending military operations against US troops in the region.

Iran-backed militias have targeted US forces in Iraq and Syria more than 160 times since mid-October.

The US struck Iran-backed groups in Iraq and Syria last weekend in what it said was just the beginning of its response to the killing of the three US soldiers.

In January, a US drone strike killed a senior militia commander in central Baghdad, an attack Washington said came in response to drone and rocket attacks on its forces.

On Wednesday, Iraqi special forces were on high alert in Baghdad and further units were deployed inside the Green Zone housing international diplomatic missions including the US embassy, a security source said.

Identified by IRNA as Ali Hosseini (son of Amir), Ali Hosseini (son of Mohammad Hossein), Ali Hosseini (son of Ebrahim), Hamzeh Alavi, and Mohammad Ali Akbari, the militias were killed in the recent US attacks.

Reports from the Telegram channel Defenders of the Shrine indicated on Monday that four members of the Fatemiyoun, including Ali Hosseini, Hamzeh Alavi, Mohammad Ali Akbari, and Mohammad Reza Sadat Alavi, died in a recent US attack on Syria. The moniker Defender of the Shrine is associated with forces dispatched to Syria in support of President Bashar al-Assad's regime.

Ali Hosseini was a commander within the Fatemiyoun Brigade in eastern Syria. Images circulating onlineshow him alongside Qasem Soleimani, the former commander of the IRGC’s Quds Force who was killed by the US in 2020.

The Sunday US military's strike on Iran-affiliated militias in eastern Syria occurred as the US has increased strikes against Iran-backed forces in retaliation to the killing of American soldiers in Jordan. Last week, three US service members lost their lives in drone attacks perpetrated by Iran-backed groups in northeastern Jordan, the first American fatalities since Iran’s proxies has come out in allegiance with Hamas in Gaza.

The Fatemiyoun Brigade, operating under the auspices of the Quds Force of the Revolutionary Guards, comprises Afghan immigrants in Iran and has been actively deployed in Syria in recent years. Criticism of Iran's recruitment tactics has been pervasive, with observers and human rights activists condemning the exploitation of Afghan refugees' dire circumstances to engage in regional conflicts, including the ongoing conflict in Syria.

In an interview with the Afkar Network, Hassan Kazemi-Qomi said, "Although Afghanistan is farther from Gaza, if necessary, more than one brigade from this country will go to support Gaza."

Iran-backed Hamas invaded Israel on October 7 in what was the most deadly single day for Jews since the Holocaust. Since then, Israel's relentless retaliation and the US support for its right to defend itself has sparked a regional proxy war. Iran's militias in Syria, Lebanon, Iraq and Yemen have joined the fight in support of Hamas in Gaza.

Kazemi-Qomi's statement comes after the Iranian regime launched a multi-platform campaign to recruit fighters for the Hamas conflict against Israel. Despite Iranians branding it as a propaganda stunt, the regime initiated the campaign through various outlets including websites affiliated with the Revolutionary Guards and the state broadcaster.

A chyron message urging viewers to sign up and declare their readiness to be dispatched to Palestine aired during broadcasts. Additionally, Iranians received SMS messages prompting them to express their willingness to participate. The regime also established a website named "al-Aqsa Storm," mirroring Hamas's codename for its offensive into Israel, which claimed numerous civilian and military casualties, alongside the taking of hostages.

Iran's proxies are mostly made up of fighters from Shia Muslim–majority countries such as Iraq and Lebanon but Shia groups in Sunni-majority Afghanistan, its border neighbor, the

A Swedish Radio investigation has revealed that two Iranians were deported following a murder plot to kill Swedish Jews.

The couple, Mahdi Ramezani and Fereshteh Sanaeifarid, who had entered Sweden in 2015 on forged Afghan passports seeking asylum, were deported in 2022 after their arrest in 2021.

They had targeted three Swedish Jews including Aron Verständig, Chair of the Official Council of Swedish Jewish communities, who was informed of the plot in 2021. One of the other potential targets was a dual US citizen, according to the Swedish Radio report.

The suspects, believed to have been part of an IRGC plot, lived under fake identities in the country.

“I think that what Iran wants to do is to harm Israel and I think it’s very difficult for them to do these kinds of things in Israel. So instead they are randomly choosing people who have some kind of official position in the Jewish diaspora and trying to create fear," Verständig told the radio station, though it is unclear why the case has only gone public now.

Deputy chief prosecutor Hans Ihrman said the FBI in the US was also investigating the couple. While there was not enough evidence to prosecute in Sweden, Ihrman said: “We have strong belief that they were here on a mission on behalf of Iran. They were seen here in Sweden as a very severe security threat. And that's the reason why they were expelled, even if we couldn't prosecute them."

Jews and Israelis abroad have increasingly been targets of the regime in recent years, plots foiled in countries including Greece, Cyprus, Azerbaijan and Argentina.

Last year, Sweden's parliament voted to designate the IRGC and relations between the two countries are ever more strained since 2019 and the arrest of a former Iranian jailor, Hamid Nouri. Sweden sentenced him to life imprisonment last year over executions of political prisoners in 1988.

A series of high profile arrests of Swedish citizens has followed as Iran's hostage-diplomacy continues.