By Aaron
Klein
© 2004 WorldNetDaily.com
Hundreds of thousands of dollars have been given to Kerry from the
pro-Iranian lobby, possibly influencing the presidential candidate's
startling call to provide Tehran with the nuclear fuel it seeks, according
to Iran's Student Movement Coordination Committee for Democracy chairman
Aryo Pirouznia.
With top Iranian officials openly calling for the development of
nuclear weapons within the next four months and overwhelming intelligence
indicating Iran is seeking to create a nuclear arsenal, Kerry has been
insisting as president he would provide Tehran with nuclear fuel as long
as it is used for peaceful purposes only, a position that has many Middle
East analysts baffled.
During the first presidential debate, Kerry said, "I think the United
States should have offered the opportunity to provide the nuclear fuel,
test them, see whether or not they were actually looking for it for
peaceful purposes."
The same policy of accommodation toward Iran's nuclear aspirations is
clearly outlined on Kerry's campaign website as well.
Under the heading: "Prevent Iran From Developing Nuclear Weapons," the
Kerry campaign states: "Iran claims that its nuclear program is only to
meet its domestic energy needs. John Kerry's proposal would call their
bluff by organizing a group of states to offer Iran the nuclear fuel they
need for peaceful purposes and take back the spent fuel so they cannot
divert it to build a weapon. If Iran does not accept this offer, their
true motivations will be clear ..."
Pirouznia, who is holding a press conference in Washington, D.C., this
morning, is disclosing the details of Kerry's financial ties to backers of
the mullah government in Iran that have been seeking to moderate America's
harsh line with regard to Tehran's nuclear aspirations.
Most prominent among them is Hassan Nemazee, 54, an investment banker
based in New York who has joined the board of the American-Iranian
Council, a U.S. lobbying group that consistently has supported lifting
U.S. sanctions on Iran and accommodating the Tehran regime. Nemazee has
raised more than $100,000 for the senator's campaign.
Nominated to become U.S. ambassador to Argentina by President Clinton
in 1999, Nemazee eventually withdrew his nomination after a former partner
raised allegations of business improprieties, WND
previously reported.
As well, a Nemazee friend in Silicon Valley, Faraj Aalaei, has raised
between $50,000 and $100,000 for the Kerry campaign.
Last year, Aalaei married a 35-year-old recent immigrant from Iran
named Susan Akbarpour, who has also raised between $50,000 and $100,000
for the campaign.
In just six years since coming to the United States on a tourist visa
from Iran, Akbarpour has started a newspaper, a magazine, and, most
recently, a trade association whose goal is to get sanctions lifted and
promote U.S. business and investment in Iran.
Kerry has embraced the political agenda of Akbarpour and other wealthy
Iranian-Americans lobbying for Tehran. Aside from nuclear accommodation,
other key positions include ending the finger printing of Iranian visitors
to the U.S; expanding "family reunion" visas to allow extended family
members of Iranians living in the U.S. to immigrate here legally and in
large numbers; offering a "dialogue" with the hard-line,
terrorist-supporting clerics in Tehran; and help Iran join the World Trade
Organization.
Pirouznia will be working closely with Dr. Jerome Corsi, co-author of
the New York Times best selling "Unfit to Command," on a new book about
the Iranian-Kerry connection titled, "Atomic Islam," which will be
published by WND Books in 2005.
"America is incredibly popular with the Iranian masses, so this is a
grave mistake for a short-term benefit," Pirouznia says. "To the regime,
[Kerry's policy] sends a message that America is willing to make a deal
despite the blood of Americans who were murdered in Dhahran [Saudi Arabia]
and are being killed today in Iraq by so-called foreign elements. And to
Iranians, it shows that the old establishment may be back in power, a
return to the Carter era."
Dr. Corsi said, "Not surprisingly, Iran has publicly accepted Kerry's
'offer' in the last few days."
Iranian leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has urged his
country's weapons developers to step up work on making a nuclear bomb,
a U.S. official recently said, according to Geostrategy-Direct, the global
intelligence news service.
Citing an authoritative source in the Iranian exile community, the
official said Khamenei met recently with senior government and military
leaders regarding the nuclear weapons program.
Khamenei told the gathering, "We must have two bombs ready to go in
January or you are not Muslims," the official said.
Tehran has said the recent International Atomic Energy Agency
resolution calling on Iran to halt uranium enrichment could lead to the
country's withdrawal from the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty.
Khamenei has in the past told many newspapers that nuclear weapons
would be used to "destroy the Zionist regime."
Middle East Expert Craig Smith of Swiss America, who wrote the
introduction to the forthcoming Atomic Islam book, said, "During the
Presidential Debates, many of us were baffled as to why Senator Kerry
unabashedly promised that as President he would give the totalitarian
government of Iran nuclear fuel, but now it all makes sense. He knew who
took him to the dance and he had no choice but to attempt to waltz
American technology over to his newfound friends in Tehran."
Related stories:
Iran
likes Kerry deal to supply nuke fuel
Money
trail behind Kerry's Iran stance
Kerry
would still supply Iran with nuclear fuel
Kerry:
U.S. should've given nuclear fuel to Iran
Iranian
leader wants nuke in 4 months
Kerry
influenced by Iranian funders?
Kerry
taking campaign to the enemy?
Related column:
Kerry
on Iran
Aaron Klein is WorldNetDaily's special
Middle East correspondent, whose past interview subjects have included
Yasser Arafat, Ehud Barak, Shlomo Ben Ami and leaders of the Taliban.
