Never thought this day would come but Trita Parsi has stepped down as NIAC’s Supreme Leader. That’s decent of him. Iranians are not known to give up power voluntarily.
But what a wasted opportunity NIAC has been. As the largest and most successful grass-root Iranian-American organization it could have achieved so much more than just being against war. It could not even be an effective voice for peace because most people see it as a mouthpiece, if not an agent, for the Islamic Republic.
NIAC has never truly, sincerely addressed the fact that Iranians are suffering not because of American bullying but primarily because of a regime that will go down in history as one of the most brutal the WORLD has ever seen.
Trita and his band could have been against war, intervention and senseless sanctions AND defended freedom and human rights in Iran. But its condemnation of terrible abuses in Iran has always seemed half-hearted. An afterthought. Secondary to the threat of war.
America is Goliath alright. But the Islamic Republic is no David.
Today war is a real possibility and NIAC will be busier than ever in the coming months, years. As always its focus will be on what the U.S. is doing wrong. We won’t hear about the wrongs of the thugs in Tehran. Their extremism. Their expansionism. Their stupidity and rabid cruelty.
Can’t both sides be wrong? Why is it always America’s fault? Couldn’t NIAC gain some credibility by FAIRLY assessing ALL sides? Couldn’t it acknowledge that it represents hundreds of thousands of Iranians who have been driven from their homeland by vicious madmen? Couldn’t it appreciate the freedoms in America and DEMAND the same for people back home?
Parsi may have shed the age-old Iranian thirst for eternal power but like most of us he’s still a little dictator. He neither understands nor cares for freedom as a fundamental principle. Freedom of expression in particular. That became embarrassingly clear when he went to court to silence a nobody talking trash about him.
Maybe that’s the problem. When you don’t honestly give two shits about basic rights and all other good things that make society civil and tolerable, why fight for them in Iran? You fought against war. Good. Mission accomplished? Ask those in Evin Prison. Ask those in unmarked mass graves. Ask women. Ask Bahais. Jews. Every minority. Every broken, hopeless Iranian.
Parsi sold NIAC’s soul to a bunch of perpetual perpetrators of crimes against humanity. Good luck in your next career.
Great Post! Thank you for clrealy articulating the problem with NIAC!
Well, the problem is with his rise to power. NIAC was established by the known IR bag man Houshang Amirahmadi. Parsi, then a completely unknown newcomer who was not even a U.S. citizen, was then installed as its president by Amirahmadi. The whole set up was a glaring IR friendly operation from the get go. Parsi really had no choice but to tow the line. It's not like this was an organic grassroots organization that Iranian Americans set up. This was an IR job from the start. Hence, the love emails between Parsi and Zarif, etc., and hence, pushing the IR agenda. I mean, for God's sake, why would an organization that is supposedly set up to advance Iranian American interests hold anti-Israel, pro-Gaza rallies in Boston?!!! What does that have to do with advancing Iranian-American intersets? And please. this whole false notion that NIAC is the "largest Iranian-American organization...." It's not. In fact, documents produced during Parsi's fiasco of a lawsuit against Daiislam showed that NIAC only had a couple of hundred members. That's all. The Starbucks around the corner from my office has more customers in an hour than NIAC has actual members. They have a lot of money from dubious sources, but not a lot of actual members.
I echo what AO said above.
I had a personal experience with NIAC back in 2003 which showed me what Trita was all about. A friend of mine who had a problem with his employer called and wanted to know if I had any suggestions. I had just seen Trita on C-SPAN promoting his first book and talking about being the lobby for the Iranian-Americans.
I suggested to my friend that he should call NIAC and see if their lawyer can step in and help him out. A few days later, my friend called and said, “You really thought that this guy was going to help me? After calling the office and setting up a conf. call, I talked to Mar’ashi. First, he encouraged me to pay the $50 and become a member. Then he wanted me to ask my friends to join. Then he asked if I knew anybody at Chevron’s HQ here in the Bay Area and encouraged me to have Iranians lobby from inside Chevron to contact the Congress to lift the sanctions on the Regime. What we did not discuss was my problem!”
I was so embarrassed to have recommended NIAC that from that day on I became a vocal critic of Trita and the gang. When Hasan Daii came forward with his material, it all made complete sense to me.
NIAC was a lobby for Rafsanjani from day 1. The Iranian-American part was just the way to get the doors to open in the Congress.
Peter principle, sar dabir gerami, Peter principle! Trita rose to his level of incompetence and ineffectiveness (never mind, affiliation with the IRI regime) miserably failing in galvanizing and mobilizing the enormous energy the true Iranian communities in the US and elsewhere were willing to expend to form a unified and cohesive force to advance their interests here and over there! This buffoon of a so-called leader and the entire effing NIAC organization were not even able or willing for that matter to offer a helping hand to bring justice to the racist killer of a young fellow iroonie in SoCal, by the name of Shayan or Shahin! But then again, what do expect from a bunch of terrorist loving gang disguising themselves as the champions of Iranian causes! Legacy my rear end!
Jahanshah,
Thank you for posting your honest assessment of NIAC and its lifetime president, who has now for variety of adverse events has seen the need to let go of the as he says the “reins” of NIAC Lobby.
I agree with most of what you say, many people, myself included, have been saying more or less the same thing about NIAC Lobby for so many years. I only wish you had arrived at this assessment about NIAC when promoting and defending it was part of your activity in Iranian.com for many, many years.
Lack of accountability is one of the many ills in Iran, to accept responsibility for past deeds and misdeeds is a sign of democratic mindset. Your Iranian.com had a part in NIAC lobby getting traction; this does not mean any apology is needed, but skipping over this fact is not right either.
There was always something odd, about a guy with a Swedish-Iranian nationalities, claiming he was (Iranian-)American and representing Iranian-Americans; leading what he claimed was a grass-roots organization without voting or any sort of representation or membership meetings, I could go on an on! It was a lie from the start and will therefore be a lie! I think Trita is smart, competent and did a good job getting funding for the organization and therefore himself ...but it was and still is a lie or pack of lies. By being ever present and at the forefront, he actually denied Iranian-Americans from ever having a true voice in America. Others tried, but they were all competing instead of forming a unified organization... truly representing Iranian-Americans. The space wasn't and isn't large enough for multiple organizations. In the end, Trita, denied us (Iranian-Americans) with a true voice. F** him, his lies, and everything he stood for (and his nefarious backers). I hope now, something better stronger emerges. Iranians need a real voice in an increasingly anti-Iranian, hostile atmosphere in DC, when in fact, US is preparing for all out war against not just the Mullahs but the people of Iran. Who will be defending ordinary innocent Iranians with nothing to do with the Mullahs, as they stream out of Iran like Syrians seeking refuge, while millions are dying inside Iran with reckless bombings. Who will stand up for Iranians as Maryam Rajavi emerges as yet another dictator in a stream of western backed dictators in a redacted Iran, that is splintered into 5 countries. Who? In the final analysis, by sucking all the air out of the room, Trita betrayed Iranians everywhere. He never had the courage to 'stand and be elected'! And thus became a bad example, a poor leader, to Iranians everywhere. (By the way, I posted this comment under the Trita Parsi blog on toptopic.com, and they suddenly took the blog off their home page and shoved it on page 5 ... they are embarrassed about him ... too).
Grassroot? Here’s how grassroot NIAC is:
http://iranian-americans.com/1548/
“NIAC has never truly, sincerely addressed the fact that Iranians are suffering not because of American bullying but primarily because of a regime “
As you stated, NIAC had not truly done so but as Birthers have proven, facts matter little now days and folks who want to believe one way or another will find a way to convince themselves their beliefs is the facts.
Perhaps the other Lobbyist on this site who advocate daily with a two-blog-a-day for destruction of Iran on behalf of the Zionist regime can take a day or two off and enjoy a vacation. It has been at least 10-12 years that the poor guy had not a day off from his/her lobbying job.
As for full disclosure, I did support NIAC, not because I thought they were perfect but because they were the best group I found to represent my interest as an American-Iranian and they were fully against war with Iran.
I will still support any decent group who will work to avoid a war with Iran.
Muller is making America great again
tRump is helping to make Russia great again
Reject occupation, If the bar code starts with 7 29 put it back on the shelf
Buy American, say NO to Chinese madeTrump
“The time is always right to do what is right” – Martin Luther King
The timing of his departure is fishy... Where will he resurface?
The problem is not NIAC or Trita. In the big scheme of things he did not impact anything. It was clear from day one what they were. And the only reason for his departure is the clear writing on the wall. It just took some, like yourself, several years to figure it out despite many painfully obvious signs from the start. Much like Fred on the other extreme that helps you fill pages with endless and useless blogs. In the interim you rooted for him, featured him and now write an ambivalent emotional "Heif shod" article. Reflect on that; and remember it when the next snake oil saleman comes along.
“Where will he resurface?”
The rumor has it he’ll be working as a concierge at one of Trump’s hotels. The location has not been disclosed for security reasons.
GR - I heard that Zarif is looking for a "aftabeh handler," so who knows....
Iranian-Americans are a very succesful and well assimilated group of immigrants to US and as such do not even need an advocacy group.
The Fascist Islamist regime of Iran who despite all it's claims of 'Anti-Imperialism' , would not survive more than a month without direct support of one Imperialist power or other, certainly needs lobyists in USA to ensure the financial life lines are kept intact. This worked so fine with Obama the Neo-Liberal. But with Trump the anti globalist, the whole thing has been turned upside down. So we see Islamist regime lackeys like this creature Trita Parsi are being discarded like used tissues.....
AO,
I bet he likes that job better. With his looks and accent he won’t be a popular concierge, anyway.
Being a son of a Tudehi, Trita has acted accordingly to the teachings and practices of the party! He infiltrated, he betrayed, and he delivered Iran to the Russians!
Hilarious! So let me get this straight. After years (decade?) of defending Trita, now you get it? Bah Bah.
Better late than never.
Welcome to reality.
Maybe now you can turn this back into a blog and get a real day job like the rest of us!
lol!
Where have you been LoserNation? Done with NIAC
I like our learned friend, Farceynation, for the so fitting spelling of his name... We are indeed a farce nation... And... He has a point... Javid has some explaining to do...
If I am not mistaken, Farceynation is Bruce Bastani who was once a member of PAIIA, or NIAC-lite!
Yep. He’s the same fellow. Indeed, without B.B. things were getting kind of boring. We need more fun.
Sar Dabir Jan
instead of telling us what we know allready, why dont you tell this site's NIAC membership, both of them, exactly why Trita Jan left! Tell tem about the FBI investigation and raid. Tell them how serious the situation is. Tell them that these naneh man gharibam stories like " I never know or called anyone in NIAC and it was My Aunti Kolsoom from Vegas who used my phone to call that lawyer at NIAC" , just wont cut it for the boys at US law enforcement agencies who are there to serve and protect the rest of us Iwho have nothing to do with Ayatoolehs of Iran!!!
Tell them! For the old time's sake tell them!
What FBI investigation, Zolfali? Is it a recent event?
On a personal note, I have to say that I'm very proud to be the first person who Trita Parsi blocked when he started posting blogs under his real name on Iranian.com after it was taken over by his friend Said Amin. I posted a polite comment and he immediately blocked me. I'm sure he was posting blogs under various names on IC before, as it was appraently disclosed during his lawsuit against Dai. But he only started posting under his real name when he knew he had the ability to block users.
https://twitter.com/BabakTaghvaee/status/998165176594640896
2002, #Iran's Islamic regime established National Iranian American Council in the #US. Now #NIAC's president, Trita Parsi has stepped down of his position following to #FBI investigations about the black money paid by the regime to NIAC to lobby for #NuclearDeal in the #US.
https://twitter.com/BabakTaghvaee/status/998165176594640896
https://twitter.com/BabakTaghvaeetatus/998165176594640896