Alireza Jafarzadeh

From Powerbase
Jump to: navigation, search

Alireza Jafarzadeh is an Iranian exile, a supporter of the Mujahedin-e Khalq[1] and a Fox News commentator. Jafarzadeh has made a career out of presenting Iran as a "nuclear threat" to the world, even publishing a book entitled: The Iran Threat: President Ahmadinjad and the Coming Nuclear Crisis, which received official praise from Daniel Pipes and Raymond Tanter.[2]

Personal Biography

Jafarzadeh was born in Mashad, Iran in 1957.[3] He moved to the US before the 1979 Iranian Revolution and received a bachelors degree from the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, and a masters degree from the University of Texas in Austin.[4]

Target Iran

On his official website entitled "Alireza Jafarzadeh's Nuclear Revelations", Jafarzadeh declares:

On August 14, 2002, Alireza Jafarzadeh, in a press conference in Washington, DC, shocked the world by revealing the Natanz nuclear site, which was kept secret by the Iranian regime until then. This is where Iran had hidden perhaps the most important part of its nuclear weapons program. A uranium enrichment facility, Natanz has become the focal point of the negotiations between the European Union three, and Iran about Iran's nuclear program. In addition to Natanz, Jafarzadeh revealed yet another key nuclear site, the heavy water facility in Arak, which is intended to provide the Iranian regime with a parallel way to get fissile material for the nuclear bomb.[5].

Jafarzadeh advocates against US attempts to have dialogue with Iran and instead urges the US government to support grous like the MEK that can bring about regime change in Iran:

"Sitting with Iranian government officials sends the wrong message to moderates in Iran and weakens their voice...The U.S. must be firm with Iran's agents in Iraq and with Iran itself, and the MEK opposition group should be supported by the U.S. instead of it being on the terrorist list of the State Department. Saddam Hussein had supported the MEK for over 20 years and used them during the Iran-Iraq war. The group is heavily armed (it took tanks and artillery left in Saddam's arsenal) and is strong enough to confront Iranian troops.[6]

Jafarzadeh continues his call for the US to remove the MEK from its terror list and openly support it when declared that this should be the Obama Administration's policy in March 2010. In this way Jafarzadeh's claims are similar to those of well-known neoconservative academic and commentator, Michael Ledeen.

It is further reassuring that the opposition movement People's Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI/MEK) seeks a nuclear-free Iran. This group has repeatedly exposed Tehran's nuclear weapons secrets at great risk to its network in Iran. The group has "a pretty good record," according to Frank Pabian, Senior Nonproliferation Infrastructure Analyst at Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico. "They're right 90 percent of the time," he told the New York Times in January.
In this framework, the triumph of groups opposed to the regime is a much surer way to defuse the nuclear threat and end the Tehran-sponsored bloodshed in Iraq and the region. Indeed, it should be President Obama's Iran policy linchpin.[7]

The Press Conference

The US-Israeli campaign for regime change in Iran kicked off with a press conference on August 14, 2002 by Jafarzadeh where he revealed information on the nuclear facility in Natanz, and a dideuterium oxide facility in Arak. While it is hardly a secret that the information originated with the Israeli intelligence, on March 16 In reference to Jafarzadeh’s press conference, US President Bush said Iran's hidden nuclear program had been discovered "because a dissident group pointed it out to the world." Later that day, White House aides acknowledged that the dissident group cited by the president is the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI), the political wing of the MeK.[8] These revelations led to inspections of the sites by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). These revelations eventually led to United Nations Security Council’s imposing sanctions on Iran on December 23rd, 2006, over its nuclear program.[9]

Disinformation War

On May 15th 2003, as a spokesman for the National Council of Resistance of Iran Jafarzadeh also alleged that Iran posesses a program for biological and microbial weapons.[10] On 5 January 2007 Alireza Jafarzadeh alleged that Iran’s government is engaged in efforts to fan sectarian violence in Iraq, easily transferring money and arms across the Iraqi border.[11]. In his news conference, Jafarzadeh provided details names of the of the Iranian forces, including the Qods Force, commanders, resources and plans for Iran’s sustaining a large-scale terror network in Iraq.

On January 15th, 2007 Jafarzadeh was a guest on CNN, Lou Dobbs "Tonight" news show( 6:00 pm ET) discussing Iran's proxy war in Iraq. Jafarzadeh claimed that Iran has 32,000 mercenaries on its payroll in Iraq sabotaging the reconstruction and stabilization efforts.

Jafarzadeh is also the author of a 304 pages book about Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, the president of Iran, and his interest in developing nuclear weapons.

Pop Terrorologist

Alireza Jafarzadeh also makes frequent appearances on Television as a consultant and authority on terrorism and Islamic Fundamentalism in the Middle East.As of 2007 Jafarzadeh is a Foreign Affairs Analyst for Fox News, a position he has held since 2003 and is often a guest on Voice of America, or ABC Radio Network's John Batchelor Show. He has lectured at Georgetown University and the University of Michigan. He currently lives and works in Washington DC in the USA.

According to a publicity release he submitted[12] to Intelligence Summit, he claims to be an authority on terrorism and Islamic Fundamentalism in the Middle East, particularly in Iran and Iraq. Jafarzadeh has published numerous papers and essays and has appeared on most television and radio broadcasts including, Fox news, CNN, MSNBC, CBS, NBC, NPR, VOA, BBC and ABC..[13]

Strategic Policy Consulting

Jafarzadeh heads his own company, Strategic Policy Consulting, Inc., where he claims to act as a consultant on Iran's nuclear program, terrorism, and Islamist terrorism and extremism.

Strategic Policy Consulting was formed on 10 July 2003. The address listed on its State of Virginia registration is 2101 CRYSTAL PLAZA ARCADE #164 ARLINGTON, VA 22202 4600. The SPC website lists an address at 1101 Pennsylvania Ave. N.W. Suite 600. According to the SPC website, its members have worked professionally with the US Congress, media, agencies, institutions and universities in order to deliver analysis, policy suggestions, and research for more than 20 years.

Affiliations

Contact

External links

Notes

  1. ↑ Alireza Jafarzadeh, "How to Stop Iran's Nuclear Threat", Huffington Post, 1 March 2010
  2. ↑ The Iran Threat, ["Praise"], The Iran Threat, accessed on 16 September 2010
  3. ↑ Laura Rozen, Iran on the Potomac, The Washington Post, 23 March 2006
  4. ↑ Biography: Alireza Jafarzadeh, Strategic Policy Consulting, May 2005
  5. ↑ Alireza Jafarzadeh, "Alireza Jafarzadeh Nuclear Revelations", Alireza Jafarzadeh Website, accessed on 16 September 2010
  6. ↑ Joseph Puder, "Iranian Opposition Leader Speaks At Middle East Forum", The Bulletin, 19 September 2007
  7. ↑ Alireza Jafarzadeh, "How to Stop Iran's Nuclear Threat", Huffington Post, 1 March 2010
  8. ↑ , Mark Hosenball, Iran: Mixed Signals on MEK, Newsweek, 11 April 2005
  9. ↑ Template:Cite
  10. ↑ Press Briefing.  IranWatch.
  11. ↑ Iran exile says Tehran steps up efforts in Iraq.  REUTERS.
  12. ↑ The Intelligence Summit - Speakers and Organisers.  The Intelligence Summit.  Retrieved 2006-12-06.
  13. ↑ Speaker Biography: Alireza Jafarzadeh.  Intelligence Summit.  Retrieved 2006-11-20.
Retrieved from "https://powerbase.info/index.php?title=Alireza_Jafarzadeh&oldid=132194"