Reza Behrouz and Maëlie Kate Jalali 

It has been a year since news broke about the Biden Administration’s Iran Envoy Rob Malley being placed on unpaid leave. The motive for what many believe is categorical expulsion of Malley from the State Department is shrouded in mystery and the Administration has been less than forthcoming regarding the details, despite repeated congressional inquiries. What is known is that Malley’s security clearance was suspended sometime in the spring of 2023 amid an investigation into his mishandling of classified material. His activities were apparently so egregious that the FBI became involved in the investigation. 

Malley was appointed by Secretary of State Antony Blinken to serve as the Iran Envoy in January 2021. His appointment immediately triggered an outcry from the Iranian American community. The National Union for Democracy in Iran (NUFDI) published an open letter directed at Secretary of State Antony Blinken, requesting that he reconsider his decision, based on Malley’s history of being soft on the Islamic Republic regime, especially with respect to human rights abuses. The request was ignored by the Biden Administration, as over 200 predominantly progressive individuals and organizations released a statement in support of Malley, believing he is the right man to quickly revive the Iran nuclear deal. 

In October 2022, amid the national uprising in Iran, NUFDI again wrote a letter to Secretary Blinken expressing concern about how Malley was dismissive of the human rights abuses in Iran and was exclusively focused on securing a deal with the regime. This message was also disregarded by the Administration. 

Then in September 2023, Semafor published emails in which Islamic Republic officials communicated with a group of individuals that was referred to as the “Iran Expert Initiative.” According to the emails, this group of so-called experts were tasked with engaging with media, universities and think tanks, even ghostwriting articles, to bolster the Islamic Republic’s image in the West. Among them was Ariane Tabatabai, who is currently chief of staff to the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Special Operations and Low Intensity Conflict. Tabatabai began her work in Biden’s State Department in March 2021, joining Malley’s team tasked with reviving the nuclear deal. In May 2022, Tabatabai quit her post on the Iran negotiating team and moved on to the Department of Defense. 

When news of Tabatabai’s appointment broke out in March 2021, Iranian American dissidents again expressed trepidation, raising concern about her loyalty and priorities. They pointed to multiple public appearances in which Tabatabai echoed the Islamic Republic’s talking points. Instead of investigating the veracity of the claims made by dissidents, the State Department dismissed them, calling the attacks against Tabatabai racially motivated. 

These are two cases where the Iranian American community made every effort to warn the Biden Administration of potential dangers of hiring individuals who could be detrimental to US national security. Our community members reached out to the State Department on numerous instances to meet with staff and discuss ways to support the Iranian people and counter the regime, all to no avail. Instead, the Administration turned its focus on policy recommendations by individuals who were completely out of touch with the realities inside Iran, exigencies of the Iranian people and the Iranian American community’s expectations of the U.S. government. Ignoring repeated warnings from the Iranian American community eventually brought about an embarrassment for Biden when it became evident that his administration was infiltrated to the core by the Islamic Republic regime. 

Just this past week, the Iranian-American dissident community was rewarded with a monumental victory. Dozens of activists worked tirelessly for more than a year to advance the Mahsa Amini Human rights and Security Accountability Act or the MAHSA Act. This Act, initially sponsored by Rep. Jim Banks (R-IN) calls on the U.S. President to impose property- and visa-blocking sanctions on the Islamic Republic regime’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei and the regime’s President for human rights abuses and/or terrorism. While sympathizers of the regime in Washington who lobby for the interest of the mullahs tried vigorously to impede the advancement of this legislation, it passed the House of Representatives and the Senate overwhelmingly as a part of a larger appropriation bill, ultimately signed by President Biden into law. This demonstrated the dedication and the political acumen of Iranian Americans, particularly the young generation. 

It is still not too late. In the words of former U.S. presidents, Democrat and Republican, America is a “city on a hill,” a symbol of democracy. By engaging with the Iranian American dissident community, Biden can leave a legacy for himself as a president who stood for democracy in Iran and against Islamofascism. The Iranian American community is educated and informed.  It can serve as an indispensable asset to the US Government in shaping its Iran policy and ways of countering the Islamic Republic regime’s malign endeavors, inside Iran and abroad.