A new report from researchers at George Washington University has highlighted Vice President Kamala Harris’s interaction with an Iranian-born cleric with close ties to the Iranian government, raising concerns over Iranian influence in the U.S. The report details a 2021 meeting between Harris and Imam Mohammad Ali Elahi, a figure with longstanding connections to Iran’s regime, at a Detroit vaccination event.
During the encounter, Elahi, who once led the Iranian Navy’s political office and has expressed allegiance to Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini and Hezbollah, spoke with Harris and praised the administration’s efforts in combating COVID-19.
This meeting is part of a broader study by GWU’s Program on Extremism that claims Iran is spreading its ideological reach into the U.S. through figures like Elahi. His organization, the Islamic House of Wisdom in Dearborn, Michigan, has received significant funding from the Alavi Foundation, a group previously accused of serving as an Iranian front. Researchers point out that the foundation has invested millions in U.S.-based religious and educational institutions, with ties extending into anti-Israel activism on American campuses.
Harris’s connection with Elahi, captured in photographs, underscores the report’s assertion that Iran’s reach extends into high-level American networks. The researchers indicate that through such interactions, Iran’s influence may impact American political discourse, especially on sensitive issues like Middle Eastern policy. The report has sparked calls from some officials for greater scrutiny of potential Iranian influences in the United States, especially regarding figures who maintain connections with American political leaders.
1 comment:
One of two articles on this topic in the NY Post notes that Hunter Biden & Jim Biden rented office space from this Iranian front group. The group typically buys buildings, opens a mosque in them, and leases the remaining square footage as office space.
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