Alireza Jafarzadeh

Alireza Jafarzadeh is a media commentator on the Middle East and an active dissident figure to the Iranian government.^[1] He is best known for revealing the existence of clandestine nuclear facilities in Iran in 2002. Until 2003, Jafarzadeh acted as the chief congressional liaison and public spokesperson for the United States representative office of the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI).^[2] He is currently the president of his company, Strategic Policy Consulting, Inc., as well as a FOX News Foreign Affairs Analyst.^[2]

Jafarzadeh is also the author of a 304-paged book (The Iran Threat: President Ahmadinejad and the Coming Nuclear Crisis) about Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, the current President of Iran, and his alleged interest in developing nuclear weapons.

Early life

Jafarzadeh was born in Mashhad, Iran.^[3] He moved to the United States before the 1979 Iranian Revolution. In the USA he studied civil engineering, obtaining his bachelor's degree from the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, and a master's degree from the University of Texas at Austin.^[2]

Work

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On August 14, 2002, Jafarzadeh drew worldwide attention by revealing that Iran was running a secret nuclear facility in Natanz, and a dideuterium oxide facility in Arak. These revelations led to inspections of the sites by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). After their first inspection, IAEA, said in a report on Iran's nuclear activity that traces of uranium, greater than what is needed for a civilian power program, were found on Iranian nuclear equipment, although the IAEA claimed that the source of the uranium was likely from equipment imported to Iran from Pakistan.^[4] These revelations eventually led to United Nations Security Council's imposing sanctions on Iran on December 23, 2006, over its nuclear program.^[5]

On May 15, 2003, as then a spokesman for the NCRI, Jafarzadeh also alleged that Iran was running programs for biological and microbial weapons.^[6] On March 16, 2005, 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 was the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI).^[7] On January 5, 2007, Jafarzadeh claimed that Iran's government had sharply increased its efforts to fan sectarian violence in Iraq, easily transferring money and arms across the Iraqi border.^[8] In his news conference, Jafarzadeh provided details of the Iranian forces, including the Quds Force, commanders, resources and plans for Iran sustaining a large-scale terror network in Iraq.^{[citation needed]}

Jafarzadeh in the Media

On January 15, 2007, Jafarzadeh was a guest on CNN's Lou Dobbs Tonight news show (6:00 pm ET) discussing Iran's proxy war in Iraq.^[9] Jafarzadeh claimed that Iran has 32,000 mercenaries on its payroll in Iraq sabotaging the reconstruction and stabilization efforts.^[9]

As late as December 14, 2006, Jafarzadeh was introduced as the past representative of the National Council of Resistance of Iran in an interview with Claude Salhani in which he responded to comments by Mahmoud Ahmadinejad made towards Israel.^[10]

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, D.C. in the United States.

According to his official website, "Jafarzadeh has frequently appeared on major television and radio broadcasts", including Fox News Channel, CNN, MSNBC, CBS Evening News, NBC, ABC, BBC, Sky News, ITN, VOA, and NPR.^[2]

On September 24, 2008, Jafarzadeh appeared on foxnews.com "The Strategy Room" with host Heather Nauert, to discuss Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's UN appearance.

On 20 March 2009, Alireza Jafarzadeh appeared on CBS Evening News commenting on President Barack Obama's New Year Nowrouz message to the Iranian people.

Strategic Policy Consulting

Jafarzadeh heads his own company, Strategic Policy Consulting, Inc., where he consults as an expert on the nuclear program of Iran, terrorism, and Islamic extremism.

Strategic Policy Consulting was formed on July 10, 2003. The SPC website lists an address at 1101 Pennsylvania Ave. N.W. Suite 600.^[11] 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.^[11]

Controversy

Jafarzadeh's association with the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI) which the US State Department claims is a front organization for the People's Mujahedin of Iran (Mujahedin-e Khalq, MEK or MKO) has been a source of controversy. Jafarzadeh was the public spokesperson for the National Council of Resistance of Iran until its office in Washington was closed by the US State Department on the grounds that it was too closely associated with the People's Mujahedin of Iran, which is listed as a terrorist organistion by the US State Department.^[12][1]

Jafarzadeh's name first^{[citation needed]} appears in the media in a Houston Chronicle article dated December 24, 1986, where he is described as a spokesman for the MEK.^[13] In the article he denied US State Department claims that the MEK was a terrorist organization responsible for the assassination of at least six Americans in Iran,^[13] a charge that is vehemently denied by MEK.^[14] In the same article, Jafarzadeh compared the MEK's resistance activities to those of the US Founding Fathers.^[13]

Trita Parsi, author of Treacherous Alliances: The Secret Dealings of Israel, Iran, and the United States, has called Jafarzadeh "The MKO’s spokesperson and top lobbyist."^[15]

References