Lawmakers open probe into top Harris advisor over Iran regime ties
Republican lawmakers have opened an investigation Wednesday into Phil Gordon, national security advisor to Kamala Harris, over his involvement in an Iranian influence operation.
In a letter to Harris, Senator Tom Cotton (R-AR) and Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-NY) requested information about Gordon’s relationship with Ariane Tabatabai, an operative of the Islamic Republic of Iran.
Ariane Tabatabai: Iranian operative in the Pentagon
Tabatabai is a high-ranking Pentagon official who was part of an Iranian influence operation called the Iranian Experts Initiative (IEI). The IEI’s objective was to recruit overseas academics and researchers to help shift policy towards Iran, particularly regarding its nuclear proliferation — an objective considered to have been successful.
As a core member of the IEI, which was overseen by Iran’s Foreign Ministry, Tabatabai was reportedly in direct contact with senior Iranian officials such as then-Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif and a top Foreign Ministry official named Mostafa Zahrani, from whom she requested permission to attend international conferences.
After joining the IEI, Tabatabai began writing articles for mainstream media outlets such as the Atlantic, Washington Post, and New York Times in which she promoted a nuclear deal with Iran. She claimed that Iran was seeking nuclear capabilities not to build nuclear weapons but for “production of radioisotopes for medical purposes” and for “desalination, an energy-intensive process.”
Help from top Kamala Harris advisor
Gordon co-authored three such articles with Tabatabai in which he argued for pro-Iran policies. In one piece, he insisted that lifting sanctions on Iran would be a “catastrophe.” In another, he claimed sanctions on Iran would cause the Islamic regime to “lash out with attacks on its neighbors, and on Americans and American interests in the Middle East.”
Tabatabai also served as a key aide to former Biden administration Special Envoy to Iran Robert Malley, who was suspended last year for “mishandling classified documents.”
She remains assistant secretary for special operations chief of staff at the Pentagon.
In the letter to Harris, the Republican legislators noted that Gordon is also “closely associated” with the National Iranian American Council (NIAC), which they said is also an Iranian influence operation.
“The Biden-Harris Administration is no stranger to Iran accommodators, appeasers, and accomplices,” they wrote. “Ms. Tabatabai remains gainfully employed in the Defense Department, helping oversee sensitive special operations. The FBI is investigating your former Special Envoy for Iran Robert Malley for passing classified intelligence to Tehran and your Special Envoy Amos Hochstein allegedly passed intelligence about Israeli airstrikes to Hezbollah potentially as recently as this weekend.”
