Experts in Iran cautiously discuss new president’s foreign policy

The AUF’s report detailed an October 2021 meeting in Tehran, where IRGC Quds Force commander Esmail Qaani, Al-Qaeda leader Saif al-Adel, and a senior Taliban representative agreed on cooperation between Al-Qaeda and IRGC-affiliated groups in the Middle East and Africa. This marked the first recorded in-person meeting of these senior officials. The agreement involved the Taliban providing training space and tools for Al-Qaeda fighters in Afghanistan, while the IRGC covered their expenses and funded operations.

The alleged meeting took place just two months after the Taliban overran Afghanistan and the US hastily withdrew from the country after a 20-year military and political presence.

According to UAF, Qaani congratulated the Afghan Taliban and Al-Qaeda on their success in Afghanistan, stating, "We all have done a great job; now we need to chase the Americans out of the Middle East as well."

The report noted that the first important point they agreed on was that all Al-Qaeda branches, affiliate groups, and the IRGC in the Middle East and Africa would collaborate, with both sides working to broker peace among them.

“The first peace was brokered between the Houthis and Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, which still holds, and coordination with Hezbollah and groups in Iraq and Syria is now operational" the report said. “The second point was that the Afghan Taliban should provide space and tools for training the Al-Qaeda fighting force."

“The last point was that the IRGC is willing to pay for all their expenses in Afghanistan and their overseas operations in the Middle East as well,” the document added.

The report by the AUF, led by Sami Sadat, former commander of the Afghan army's special forces and based in the US, sheds light on the funding and extensive cooperation between the IRGC, Al-Qaeda, and the Taliban, extending to the Arabian Peninsula. Previous reports have also revealed Iran's close ties with Al-Qaeda.

In February, the US State Department told Iran International that Tehran has permitted Al-Qaeda to facilitate terrorist activities and transfer funds and fighters since 2009 while also harboring its leaders within its borders.

In January 2021, then US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo publicly accused the Iranian government of permitting Al-Qaeda to establish a "new home base" within its borders, asserting that "Al-Qaeda today is operating under the hard shell of the Iranian regime's protection."

In February 2023, the UN reported that Seif al-Adel, the apparent new leader of Al-Qaeda, was residing in Iran, a claim later confirmed by US authorities.

The explosion, which did not trigger air raid alarms, occurred hours after the Israeli military confirmed it had killed a senior commander of the Iran-backed Hezbollah militia in southern Lebanon.

"An initial inquiry indicates that the explosion in Tel Aviv was caused by the falling of an aerial target, and no sirens were activated. The incident is under thorough review," the military said in a statement.

It was not clear how a relatively slow-moving drone evaded extensive Israeli air defenses. In April when Iran fired nearly 350 drones and missiles, 99% were intercepted and no real damage was reported.

Iran’s Tasnim website affiliated with the Revolutionary Guard published the news of the attack, quoting Houthi officials praising the operation, and saying the “one Zionist was killed and eight others injured.” Other Iranian government-controlled media relayed the news insisting that the Houthis were able to inflict “great damage” on Tel Aviv.

The attack on Tel Aviv is likely to fan fears about further fallout from the Gaza war, as the Houthis and other Iranian proxies side with the Palestinian militant group Hamas.

It said air patrols had been increased to protect Israeli airspace but said it had not ordered new civil defence measures, however the mayor of Tel Aviv said the city, Israel's economic centre, had been moved to a state of heightened alert.

A spokesman for Yemen's Houthi militants, which like Hezbollah are backed by Iran, said the group had attacked Tel Aviv with a drone and would continue to target Israel in solidarity with Palestinians in the Gaza war.

In a televised speech, spokesperson Yahya Saree called Tel Aviv a primary target "within the range of our weapons".

Israel's emergency services said the body of a 50-year-old man was found in an apartment close to the explosion and said the circumstances were being investigated.

Four people were taken to hospital with slight shrapnel injuries and four others were treated for shock. All of them were later released, the hospital said.

Footage from the site showed an apparent impact on a building located close to U.S. embassy premises in Tel Aviv. Broken glass could be seen strewn across the city pavements as crowds of onlookers gathered nearby. The site was sealed off by police tape.

Israeli media said fragments from a drone of a kind widely used by Iranian-backed militia groups in the region had been recovered nearby.

Israel has been exchanging daily missile and artillery fire with Hezbollah along its northern border and in southern Lebanon since the start of the war in Gaza, prompting fears of a wider regional conflict if the situation escalates.

The Houthis have also stepped-up attacks against Israel and Western targets, saying they are acting in solidarity with the Palestinians.

Israel invaded the Gaza Strip following an attack by Hamas militants on southern Israel in October last year.

Reporting by Reuters

He made his keynote address, appearing somber and bandaged, accepting the GOP presidential nomination at the RNC convention in Milwaukee just five days after an assassination attempt that could have ended his life.

When it came to Iran, from its advancements on the nuclear front to its proxies multi-front campaign against Israel, the presidential candidate didn't hold back, taking strong aim at President Biden and his administration.

"Iran is very close to having a nuclear weapon, which would have never happened. This is a shame...the damage that this administration has done," said Trump to a cheering crowd.

Iran has enriched enough uranium to 60% purity for at least three bombs, according to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). Iran could convert uranium enriched to 60% to bomb-grade fuel in just a matter of days.

Iran's nuclear gains under Biden's administration, according the FDD's Behnam Ben Taleblu, are irreversible and his approach has led to a "credibility crisis."

"The contradictory approach under Biden of trying to de-escalate and establish deterrence has led to a credibility crisis exploited by US adversaries," he said.

Trump reiterated his claim that Iran was on the verge of agreeing to negotiate a new deal to more strictly curb its nuclear program before Trump lost the 2020 election.

He also said that the Oct 7 atrocities would have never happened on his watch.

"Iran was broke. Iran had no money. Now Iran has $250 billion. They made it all over the last two and a half years. They were broke," said Trump.

Trump's logic being that if Iran is financially struggling, the clerical establishment would find it tough to finance its proxies committing acts of terror.

“I told China and other countries if you buy from Iran, we will not let you do any business in this country.”

In April, President Joe Biden signed into law new sanctions aimed at reducing the flow of Iranian oil to China, which purchases about 90 percent of Iran's oil exports.

A bipartisan group of over 40 US House lawmakers called on the Biden administration to “expeditiously implement” stringent new Iran sanctions targeting the country’s oil exports to China in June.

The FDD's Taleblu told Iran International that the data is clear, under Trump's policy, the Islamic Republic, struggled to pay its proxies like Hamas and Hezbollah.

"Trump's Iran policy drove down both Iranian oil revenues and exports. Through his strategy of cost imposition Tehran struggled to pay its proxies and even keep some of its propaganda stations afloat," said Taleblu.

Trump's statement that the attack on Israel would not have happened with him as president is not new.

Speaking on Iran International's podcast Eye for Iran, which aired before the final night of the RNC, Trump's former National security advisor, John Bolton, said nobody knows what would have happened.

"It's one of those Trump statements that's neither provable nor disprovable. Nobody knows because he wasn't president," said Bolton.

Jason Brodsky, the policy director of United Against Nuclear Iran said Trump understands how to make US adversaries fear the American president.

"There is an important strategic logic to that dynamic. This is something that President Biden has struggled with. This can be seen after Biden warned Iran with “Don’t,” Tehran still launched the first direct attack on Israel since 1979," said Brodsky.

John Bolton, a former US national security adviser and long-time proponent of regime change in Iran, told the Eye for Iran podcast that Donald Trump would be likely to compromise with Tehran rather than seek the overthrow of the cleric-ruled system.

Bolton, who was in his role from 2018 to 2019, added he had advocated many times for the then-US president to take action against Iran.

"I never convinced him that regime change was the only, ultimate answer," Bolton said, in reference to Trump.

Bolton's experience as an insider to the first Trump administration has led him to believe when it came to Trump's decision-making, there were no guarantees.

"Even when he makes a decision, we used to say it's never final until it's final and then sometimes it's still not final."

"The zeal for the deal is very strong in Trump and I think it could lead him into negotiations," said Bolton on 'Eye for Iran.'

He recalled Trump's historic handshake with North Korea’s Kim Jong Un at the heavily fortified Demilitarized Zone in Jan. 2019. Trump had actually inflamed tensions prior to that with his threats to rain “fire and fury” on North Korea, before embracing a diplomatic approach.

"Don't put it past Trump to do the same with Iran," said Bolton.

There are many Iranian-Americans holding onto hope that Trump would present a different option than President Joe Biden when it comes to being tough on Iran, but Bolton painted a different picture.

"Despite the very strong rhetoric he [Trump] often employs, when it comes down to it, he's not willing to take tough action. In that respect, ironically he's not that different than Biden."

Find out why Bolton believes Trump is 'afraid' to do anything 'significant' in Iran by watching or listening to the full podcast episode with Ambassador John Bolton on Eye for Iran.

To watch click on Iran International's YouTube Page for Podcasts, or Listen to episode 7 of Eye for Iran on Spotify, Apple or Amazon.

This association with proponents of the Islamic Republic has drawn sharp criticism from Iranian-American human rights activists, who argue it betrays Baskerville's legacy of championing democratic ideals.

The Institute is dedicated to the memory of Howard Baskerville, who died supporting Iran's Constitutional Revolution in 1909.

In early May 2024, the Institute sponsored a conference at the Hilton Garden Inn Chavchavadze, titled "Building Bridges in a Divided World: Diplomacy of the Heart through Dialogue and Understanding" without publicizing it.

Yet, when journalist Karman Malekpour attended the conference, he witnessed a talk from Ahmad Shakernejad, the executive director of the Islamic Sciences and Culture Academy in Iran.

Shakernejad has a track record of praising Soleimani, who was responsible for the murders of over 600 American military personnel, according to the US government. Soleimani, the commander of the Quds Force of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), was killed on January 3, 2020, in a targeted US drone strike near Baghdad International Airport in Iraq.

During his speech, Shakernejad also passionately praised the Islamic Republic’s Supreme Leader, Ali Khamenei, speaking in glowing and highly complimentary terms.

In 2023, the Iranian state-controlled Islamic Science and Culture Research Institute announced on its website that Shakernejad’s article, "Shahid Soleimani School and Heroic Spirituality in Religions," had won “first place in the first international conference of Shahid Soleimani School.” The article praised Soleimani, reflecting on his spiritual and heroic qualities within religious contexts.

That pro-Soleimani conference took place on February 3 in Tehran, chaired by Ali Akbar Velayati, an advisor to Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei. Velayati, a former Iranian foreign minister, is on Interpol’s wanted list for his alleged involvement in the 1994 bombing of the AMIA Jewish center in Buenos Aires.

There, Velayati emphasized the crucial role of scholars and experts in promoting and elaborating on Soleimani's school of thought.

According to the program of the Baskerville conference in Tbilisi obtained by Iran International, Shakernejad spoke on the topic “Spiritual Consolation before Religious Diplomacy: Finding a Way out of the War Crisis in the Middle East.”

A second Iranian participant at the Tbilisi conference, Zahra Kamali Dehghan, president of the Mehrasa organization, promoted Khamenei’s directives in the conflict against Israel.

According to a report by Iranian state-controlled Mehr News in March, Kamali stated, “About a year ago, with the goal of popularizing and attracting public participation in defending Palestine, we wrote a letter to Palestinian mothers, asking them to continue their struggle against the Zionist regime.”

“Since the Supreme Leader emphasized the continuation of intermediate movements, we decided to continue the people's connections as a prerequisite for a unified movement,” she added.

Lawdan Bazargan, the Iranian-American human rights activist who heads the Alliance Against Islamic regime of Iran Apologists (AAIRIA), told Iran International, “It’s ironic that with guests such as Ahmad Shakernejad, who praises mass murderers like Qasem Soleimani, the Baskerville Institute called this conference ‘Building Bridges in a Divided World.’”

“Instead of hosting conferences, this Iranian institute, with close ties to the Islamic regime of Iran, should urge this brutal regime to stop arming terrorist groups like Hamas, Hezbollah, and the Houthis and to cease the violent transnational repression of Iranians who are standing up against the gender apartheid Islamic government of Iran. The true path to bridging divides starts with ceasing these criminal and illegal activities,” Bazargan said.

Observers and activists have also accused Baskerville of pursuing a political direction mirroring that of the National Iranian American Council (NIAC), which promotes engagement with the Islamic Republic’s rulers.

Iran International reached out to Bahman Baktiari, the Executive Director of the Baskerville Institute, who made extensive efforts to bring the Iranian delegation to the event, including personally meeting them at the Tbilisi airport, according to Malekpour who was present at the airport and has photographic evidence.

Communicating on WhatsApp, Baktiari said, “The Tbilisi conference was an interfaith conference, a friendship between religions, and had no political agenda. The presence of university professors from Tehran does not mean it was political.”

“The conference was about interfaith friendship, and professors from all regional countries were present,” Baktiari added, claiming, “We have nothing to hide.”

When asked whether he considers Soleimani a terrorist and whether Baskerville secured approval for the conference from the US State Department, Baktiari did not return follow-up WhatsApp calls, messages, or emails from Iran International.

Delara Hosseini, the Project Manager at the Baskerville Institute, also did not return phone calls or emails from Iran International.

According to the conference brochure, the following Iranians attended the event: Muhammad Taghi Eslami, Director of Ethics Research at the Islamic Sciences and Culture Academy (ISCA); Ayatollah Alavi Borujerdi; Ariobarzan Mohammadi from the University of Tehran; Mehdi F. Mehrabani from the University of Tehran; and Ashkan Taghipour, CEO of Nikgamam Jamshid Charity (Tehran), a sister organization of the US-based Moms Against Poverty.

In addition to Baskerville, the conference program listed the following organizations as sponsors: the US-based Stirling Foundation, the Foundation for Religious Diplomacy, the Utah Muslim Civic League, the Arab Center for Research and Policy Studies in Doha, Qatar, and the International Center for Law and Religion at Brigham Young University.

Iran International approached the sponsors of the Baskerville event for statements, but did not receive responses in time for publication.

"Some Iranian institutions, like the Baskerville Institute and Qatari centers, such as The Arab Center for Research and Policy Studies, use ‘cultural relativism’ as an excuse to exercise power and further their agenda of spreading Islam around the globe. It is ironic that these organizations, connected to the Islamic regime of Iran and the Qatari government, two of the least tolerant governments in the world, organize conferences titled ‘Building Bridges in a Divided World," Bazargan said.

Baktiari and the Institute he heads have also faced fierce criticism from Iranian-Americans for hosting the now-suspended Oberlin College professor, Mohammad Jafar Mahallati, as part of Baskerville 2021 podcast session.

Baktiari ignored the appeals of Iranian dissidents to cancel the event featuring the Iranian government's former UN ambassador, Mahallati, despite Amnesty International's charges against him. Amnesty International accused Mahallati of covering up "crimes against humanity" in Iran, referring to the clerical regime's execution of at least 5,000 Iranian dissidents in 1988, which Mahallati allegedly whitewashed at the UN.

According to the Salt Lake Tribune, the University of Utah dismissed Bakhtiari, in 2011, from his post as a political scientist because a faculty panel assessed a “pattern of plagiarism” in his work.

Elika Eftekhari, a member of the US-based Alliance for Human Rights and Democracy in Iran, told Iran International, “One of the common misunderstandings that takes place with respect to Westerners involves the participation of the Islamic regime or its proxies in international conferences and various forums. In particular, nonprofit organizations, NGOs, and academics are often drawn to the belief that exposure can ameliorate extremism.”

She added, “However, the Islamic regime has proven for over 40 years that its ideology of oppression and gender apartheid remains consistent. Therefore, inviting, legitimizing, or equating the Islamic Republic with other nations facilitates more harm than good, by helping the Islamic regime maintain two faces and obscure its severe internal oppression.”

Elizabeth A. Clark from BYU’s International Center for Law and Religion was listed as a speaker at the Tbilisi conference. Clark reportedly invited Blume and refused to answer press queries from Iran International.

The Utah-based International Center for Law and Religion (Brigham Young University) was embroiled in a scandal last year for hosting a reportedly anti-Iran racist German official, Michael Blume, who termed Iranian dissidents opposed to Iran's regime "corrupt exiled nationalists." Blume is also considered antisemitic, according to two German court rulings.

BYU’s spokeswoman, Carri Jenkins, also declined to comment.

Iranian-American professor Najmedin Meshkati, from the University of Southern California’s Department of Civil/Environmental Engineering, was also listed as a speaker. He told Iran International, that he “was invited but did not attend the conference.”

According to the conference program, participants from the following countries attended: Afghanistan, Uzbekistan, the Islamic Republic of Iran, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Pakistan, Qatar, Tajikistan, and the United States.