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<h1 class="gmail-reader-title">United Against Nuclear Iran:
The Shadowy, Intelligence-Linked Group Driving the US
Towards War With Iran</h1>
January 12, 2024</div>
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<div
class="gmail-header gmail-reader-header gmail-reader-show-element">Most
of the world has watched the Israeli assault on Gaza in
horror. As tens of thousands have been killed and millions
displaced, tens of millions of people around the world have
poured onto the streets to demand an end to the violence.
But a few select others have taken to the pages of our most
influential media to demand an escalation of the violence
and that the United States help Israel strike not just
Palestine, Syria, and Lebanon but Iran as well.</div>
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<p>“I might have once favored a cease-fire with Hamas,
but not now,” <a
href="https://www.nytimes.com/2023/10/27/opinion/hamas-war-gaza-israel.html"
target="_blank" moz-do-not-send="true">wrote</a>
Bush-era diplomat Dennis Ross in The New York Times,
explaining that “if Hamas is perceived as winning,
it will validate the group’s ideology of rejection,
give leverage and momentum to Iran and its
collaborators and put [our] own governments on the
defensive.”</p>
<p>In the wake of Hamas’ October 7 assault,
arch-neoconservative official John Bolton was <a
href="https://www.mediamatters.org/us-iran-relations/cnn-brings-warmonger-john-bolton-baselessly-claim-iran-directed-hamas-attack"
target="_blank" moz-do-not-send="true">invited</a>
on CNN, where he claimed that what we witnessed was
really an “Iranian attack on Israel using Hamas as a
surrogate” and that the U.S. must immediately
respond. When asked whether he had any evidence,
given the implications of what he was saying, he
shrugged and replied, “This is not a court of law.”</p>
<p>On December 28, Bolton doubled down on his hawkish
stance, <a
href="https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2023/12/28/the-west-may-now-have-no-option-but-to-attack-iran/"
target="_blank" moz-do-not-send="true">writing</a>
in the pages of Britain’s Daily Telegraph that “The
West may now have no option but to attack Iran” – a
position he has held for at least a decade.</p>
<p>Meanwhile, in an interview with <a
href="https://www.mintpressnews.com/iran-international-saudi-funded-tv-channel-promoting-regime-change-iran/284115/"
moz-do-not-send="true">Saudi state-funded</a>
broadcaster Iran International, senior Bush official
Mark Wallace <a
href="https://twitter.com/IranIntl_En/status/1711592934510911568"
target="_blank" moz-do-not-send="true">bellowed</a>
that, “This is Iran’s work. Iran will suffer at the
hands of retribution and will suffer the
consequences of supporting this terror group and its
horrific attack on Israel.” Wallace <a
href="https://twitter.com/IranIntl_En/status/1711595693310169539"
target="_blank" moz-do-not-send="true">continued</a>:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>No civilized country wants further conflict. But
the Iranians are forcing the civilized world’s
hand. And you will see a dramatic response soon as
the United States, Israel, and our allies begin to
position assets around the world in preparation.”</p>
</blockquote>
<p>If there was any doubt as to what sort of “dramatic
response” Wallace wanted to see, he added a <a
href="https://twitter.com/IranIntl_En/status/1711595693310169539"
target="_blank" moz-do-not-send="true">message</a>
to Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps: “I look
forward to seeing you hanged from the end of one of
your own ropes.”</p>
<p>Iran was recently the victim of a deadly terrorist
attack. As mourners commemorated the U.S.
assassination of Qassem Soleimani, two bombs
exploded, killing 91 and injuring hundreds more. In
this context, it was understandable why Iranian
officials pointed the finger at the U.S. and Israel.</p>
<h2>Warmongers, Inc</h2>
<p>What these individuals all have in common is that
they are board members of United Against Nuclear
Iran (UANI), a shadowy but influential organization
dedicated to pushing the West toward a military
confrontation with the Islamic Republic.</p>
<p>Founded in 2008, the group is led by
neoconservative hawks and has close ties to both
U.S. and Israeli intelligence. It does not divulge
where it receives its copious funding. However, it
is known that right-wing Israeli-American
billionaire Sheldon Adelson was a source. There is
strong circumstantial evidence that Gulf
dictatorships may also be bankrolling the group,
although UANI has strongly denied this. In 2019,
Iran <a
href="https://mfa.gov.ir/portal/newsview/540056/%D9%85%D9%88%D8%B3%D9%88%DB%8C-%D8%A7%DB%8C%D8%B1%D8%A7%D9%86-%D8%B1%D9%88%D9%86%D8%AF-%D8%A8%D8%B1%D8%B1%D8%B3%DB%8C-%D8%A7%D9%81%D8%B2%D9%88%D8%AF%D9%86-%D8%B3%D8%A7%D8%B2%D9%85%D8%A7%D9%86-%D9%BE%D9%88%D8%B4%D8%B4%DB%8C-%D8%A2%D9%85%D8%B1%DB%8C%DA%A9%D8%A7%DB%8C%DB%8C-%D8%A7%D8%AA%D8%AD%D8%A7%D8%AF-%D8%B9%D9%84%DB%8C%D9%87-%D8%A7%DB%8C%D8%B1%D8%A7%D9%86-%D9%87%D8%B3%D8%AA%D9%87-%D8%A7%DB%8C-uani-%D8%B1%D8%A7-%D8%A8%D9%87-%D9%81%D9%87%D8%B1%D8%B3%D8%AA-%DA%AF%D8%B1%D9%88%D9%87%D9%87%D8%A7%DB%8C-%D8%AA%D8%B1%D9%88%D8%B1%DB%8C%D8%B3%D8%AA%DB%8C-%D8%A8%D8%B2%D9%88%D8%AF%DB%8C-%D8%A2%D8%BA%D8%A7%D8%B2-%D8%AE%D9%88%D8%A7%D9%87%D8%AF-%DA%A9%D8%B1%D8%AF"
target="_blank" moz-do-not-send="true">designated</a>
UANI as a terrorist organization.</p>
<p>When asked by MintPress what he made of UANI’s
recent statements, Eli Clifton, one of the few
investigative journalists to have covered the group,
said, “It’s very consistent with the positions and
advocacy that the organization has taken since its
inception.” Adding,</p>
<blockquote>
<p>United Against Nuclear Iran does not miss an
opportunity to try to bring the United States
closer to a military conflict with Iran. And on
the other side of the equation, they also have
worked very hard to oppose efforts to de-escalate
the U.S.-Iran relationship.”</p>
</blockquote>
<p>UANI’s <a
href="https://www.unitedagainstnucleariran.com/about/leadership"
target="_blank" moz-do-not-send="true">board</a>
is a who’s who of high state, military and
intelligence officials from around the Western
world. Among its more notable members include:</p>
<ul>
<li>CEO Mark Wallace, former U.S. Ambassador to the
United Nations and deputy campaign manager for
George W. Bush’s 2004 reelection.</li>
<li>Chairman Joe Lieberman, former senator and
Democratic vice-presidential nominee for the 2000
election.</li>
<li>Tamir Pardo, Director of the Mossad, 2011-2016.</li>
<li>Dennis Ross, former State Department Director of
Policy Planning and former Middle East Envoy under
George H. W. Bush and Bill Clinton.</li>
<li>Field Marshall Lord Charles Guthrie, ex-Chief of
Staff of the U.K. Armed Forces.</li>
<li>Jeb Bush, former Governor of Florida.</li>
<li>August Hanning, President of the German Federal
Intelligence Service (BND), 1998-2005; State
Secretary at the Federal Interior Ministry,
2005-2009.</li>
<li>Zohar Palti, former head of the
Political-Military Bureau, Israeli Ministry of
Defense; former Director of Intelligence of the
Mossad.</li>
<li>Frances Townsend, Homeland Security Advisor to
President George W. Bush.</li>
<li>John Bolton, former U.S. National Security
Advisor and former U.S. Ambassador to the U.N.</li>
<li>Roger Noriega, former Assistant Secretary of
State for Western Hemisphere Affairs and
Ambassador to the Organization of American States.</li>
<li>Otto Reich, former Assistant Secretary of State
for Western Hemisphere Affairs and architect of
the 2002 U.S. coup against Venezuela.</li>
<li>Michael Singh, White House Senior Director for
Near East and North African Affairs, 2007-2008.</li>
<li>Giulio Terzi di Sant-Agata, former Italian
Foreign Minister.</li>
<li>Robert Hill, former Minister of Defense of
Australia.</li>
<li>Jack David, Deputy Assistant Secretary of
Defense for Combating Weapons of Mass Destruction,
2004-2006.</li>
<li>Mark Kirk, U.S. Senator for Illinois, 2010-2017.</li>
<li>Lt. Gen. Sir Graeme Lamb, ex-Director of U.K.
Special Forces and Commander of the British Field
Army.</li>
<li>Norman Roule, former CIA Division Chief and
National Intelligence Manager for Iran at the
Director of National Intelligence.</li>
<li>Irwin Cotler, Canadian Minister of Justice and
Attorney General, 2003-2006.</li>
<li>Baroness Pauline Neville-Jones, U.K. Minister of
State for Security and Counter Terrorism,
2010-2011.</li>
</ul>
<p>In addition, notable former board members include
ex-CIA Director R. James Woolsey; head of Mossad
between 2002 and 2011, Meir Dagan; and one-time
chief of British spy agency MI6, Sir Richard
Dearlove.</p>
<p>For 15 years, UANI has organized conferences,
published reports, and lobbied politicians and
governments, all with one goal: pushing a
neoconservative line on Iran. “UANI are a force
multiplier. They provide at least the veneer of an
intellectual infrastructure for the Iran hawk
movement. They did not invent being hawkish on Iran,
but they sure made it a heck of a lot easier,” <a
href="https://twitter.com/BenFreemanDC"
target="_blank" moz-do-not-send="true">Ben Freeman</a>,
Director of the <a
href="https://quincyinst.org/category/democratizing-foreign-policy/"
target="_blank" moz-do-not-send="true">Democratizing
Foreign Policy Program</a> at the Quincy
Institute, told MintPress.</p>
<h2>Conflicts and Conflicts of Interest</h2>
<p>For such a large, well-financed, and influential
organization filled with senior officials, United
Against Nuclear Iran keeps its funding sources very
quiet. However, in 2015, Clifton was able to <a
href="https://lobelog.com/document-reveals-billionaire-backers-behind-united-against-nuclear-iran/"
target="_blank" moz-do-not-send="true">obtain</a>
a UANI donor list for the 2013 financial year. By
far and away, the largest funders were billionaire
New York-based investor Thomas Kaplan and
multibillionaire Israeli-American casino mogul
Sheldon Adelson.</p>
<p>Kaplan, whose $843,000 donation supplied around
half the group’s 2013 funding, is a venture
capitalist investor concentrating on metals,
particularly gold. He is the chairman of Tigris
Financial and the Electrum Group LLC. Both of
Kaplan’s firms employ UANI CEO Mark Wallace as CEO
and COO, respectively.</p>
<p>A 2010 Wall Street Journal <a
href="https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB10001424052748704167704575258783702875778"
target="_blank" moz-do-not-send="true">article</a>
titled “Tigris Financial Goes All-in on Gold” noted
that the company had bet billions of dollars on the
price of gold rising, more than the reserves of the
Brazilian central bank. As Clifton has noted, both
Kaplan and Wallace have <a
href="https://www.salon.com/2014/08/11/billionaires_sketchy_middle_east_gamble_meet_the_man_betting_on_war_with_iran/"
target="_blank" moz-do-not-send="true">marketed</a>
gold to clients as the perfect commodity to hold if
there is increased instability in the Middle East.
Therefore, both Kaplan and Wallace stand to make
massive sums if the U.S. or Israel were to attack
Iran, making their UANI warmongering a gigantic and
potentially profitable conflict of interest.</p>
<p>Adelson provided the majority of the rest of UANI’s
funding. The world’s <a
href="https://www.forbes.com/profile/sheldon-adelson/" target="_blank"
moz-do-not-send="true">18th-richest individual</a>
at the time of his 2021 death, the tycoon turned his
economic empire into a political one, supporting
ultraconservative causes in both the United States
and Israel. Between 2010 and 2020, he and his wife
donated more than $500 million to the Republican
Party, becoming GOP kingmakers in the process. He
would often vet Republican presidential candidates
at his casino in Las Vegas, and it was often <a
href="https://news.yahoo.com/millions-at-stake-the-adelson-primary-is-neck-125553624.html"
target="_blank" moz-do-not-send="true">said</a>
that this “Adelson Primary” was almost as important
as the public one.</p>
<p>An ardent Zionist, Adelson bankrolled numerous
pro-Israel lobby projects, such as AIPAC, One
Jerusalem and Taglit Birthright. He also owned
Israel Hayom, the country’s most-read newspaper,
with 31% of the national share. Relentlessly
pro-Netanyahu, it was <a
href="https://www.timesofisrael.com/ex-aide-testifies-netanyahu-enlisted-sheldon-adelson-to-take-down-rival-paper/"
target="_blank" moz-do-not-send="true">said</a>
that the Israeli prime minister asked his friend
Adelson to set up a newspaper to help his political
career.</p>
<p>Adelson and his influence have been one of the
driving forces of American hostility towards Iran.
In 2013, during a conversation with Rabbi Shmuley
Boteach, he <a
href="https://mondoweiss.net/2013/10/adelson-nuclear-negotiate/"
target="_blank" moz-do-not-send="true">called</a>
for the United States to stop negotiating and drop a
nuclear bomb on Iran to show that “we mean
business.”</p>
<p>A potential third, even more controversial, source
of funding is the Gulf monarchies of Saudi Arabia
and the UAE. Leaked emails show UANI officials
soliciting support from the Emirati royal family.
Both Mark Wallace and Frances Townsend, for example,
<a
href="https://quincyinst.org/2021/11/26/dark-money-network-pushes-pro-uae-saudi-policies-from-new-york/"
target="_blank" moz-do-not-send="true">emailed</a>
the Emirati Ambassador to the U.S. detailing cost
estimates for upcoming events and inquiring about
support from the UAE.</p>
<p>Thomas Kaplan himself is extraordinarily close to
the nation. “The country and the leadership of the
UAE, I would say, are my closest partners in more
facets of my life than anyone else other than my
wife,” he told the Emirati outlet, The National
News, which also <a
href="https://www.thenationalnews.com/arts-culture/art/billionaire-art-collector-thomas-kaplan-on-working-with-sheikh-mohamed-and-why-he-loves-the-uae-1.826947"
target="_blank" moz-do-not-send="true">detailed</a>
his friendship with Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi,
Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed.</p>
<img
src="https://www.mintpressnews.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/Kaplan-UAE.jpg"
alt="Thomas Kaplan chats with UAE monarch Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed"
class="gmail-moz-reader-block-img"
style="margin-right: 0px;" moz-do-not-send="true"
width="338" height="391">Thomas Kaplan chats with
UAE monarch Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed. Credit |
Brunswick PR
<h2>Putting Iran in the Crosshairs</h2>
<p>One of United Against Nuclear Iran’s primary
activities, Iranian political commenter Ali Alizadeh
told MintPress, is to create a worldwide “culture of
fear and anxiety for investing in Iran.” The group
attempts to persuade businesses to divest from the
Islamic Republic and sign their <a
href="https://www.unitedagainstnucleariran.com/sites/default/files/UANI--Certification-Iran-Business-Declaration.pdf"
target="_blank" moz-do-not-send="true">certification
pledge</a>, which reads as follows:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>The undersigned [Name], the [Title] of [Company]
(the “Company”), does hereby certify on behalf of
the Company that until the Iranian regime
verifiably abandons its drive for nuclear weapons,
support for terrorism, routine human rights
violations, hostage-taking, and rampant
anti-Americanism as state policy, that neither the
Company nor any subsidiary or affiliate of the
Company, directly or through an agent,
representative or intermediary.”</p>
</blockquote>
<p>One corporation that UANI targeted was the
industrial machinery firm Caterpillar. UANI hectored
the firm, even erecting a roadside billboard outside
its headquarters in Peoria, IL, insinuating that
they were aiding Iran in constructing a nuclear
weapon. Caterpillar quickly <a
href="https://eu.pjstar.com/story/news/2010/02/26/js-exclusive-cat-no-longer/42365115007/"
target="_blank" moz-do-not-send="true">ordered</a>
its Iran projects terminated. Wallace took heart
from his group’s victory and warned that other
businesses would be targeted.</p>
<img
src="https://www.mintpressnews.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/UANI_Billboard_Peoria.jpg"
alt="United Against Nuclear Iran"
class="gmail-moz-reader-block-img"
style="margin-right: 25px;" moz-do-not-send="true"
width="391" height="214">A billboard erected by
United Against Nuclear Iran near Caterpillar’s
Illinois headquarters. Photo | United Against Nuclear
Iran
<p>These have included French companies such as Airbus
and Peugeot-Citroen, who were <a
href="https://www.france24.com/en/20160804-secret-american-ngo-blocking-french-investments-iran-uani-usa"
target="_blank" moz-do-not-send="true">threatened</a>
with legal action. In 2019, UANI earned an official
rebuke from the Russian Foreign Ministry for
attempting to intimidate Russian corporations
trading with Tehran. “We think such actions are
unacceptable and deeply concerning,” <a
href="https://lobelog.com/large-payments-to-bolton-might-explain-his-uani-tweet/"
target="_blank" moz-do-not-send="true">said</a>
Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova.
“Attempts to pressure and threaten Russian business
… are a follow-up on the dishonorable anti-Iranian
cause by the U.S. administration,” she added,
hinting at collusion between the government and the
supposedly non-governmental organization.</p>
<p>Some of UANI’s campaigns have been markedly petty,
including <a
href="https://www.csmonitor.com/USA/Foreign-Policy/2010/0430/Not-welcome-sign-out-for-Iran-s-Mahmoud-Ahmadinejad"
target="_blank" moz-do-not-send="true">pressuring</a>
New York City hotels to cancel bookings with Iranian
officials (including then-President Mahmoud
Ahmadinejad) visiting the city on United Nations
business. Others, however, have been devastating to
the Iranian economy, such as the SWIFT international
money transfer <a
href="https://www.unitedagainstnucleariran.com/swift" target="_blank"
moz-do-not-send="true">terminating</a> its
relationship with Tehran, cutting the country off
from the global banking system.</p>
<p>On UANI’s actions against businesses, Freeman said:
“It’s effective, and (in some cases, at least) it’s
to the detriment of the people of Iran; it’s to the
detriment of these companies; and it’s to the
detriment of peace in the region.”</p>
<p>While the group presents itself as against a
nuclear Iran, UANI was strangely opposed to the
Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) – the
deal between Iran and the West that limited the
former’s nuclear technology research in exchange for
sanctions relief from the latter. As MintPress <a
href="https://www.mintpressnews.com/the-israel-lobby-50m-campaign-against-iran-nuclear-deal/207807/"
moz-do-not-send="true">reported</a> at the time,
UANI spent millions on T.V. advertisements trashing
the agreement. As Wallace noted, “We have a
multi-million-dollar budget, and we are in it for
the long haul. Money continues to pour in.”</p>
<p>After the JCPOA was signed, UANI hosted a summit
attended by senior Israeli, Emirati, and Bahraini
officials, touting its failures. Once UANI’s John
Bolton was named Donald Trump’s National Security
Advisor, he persuaded the president to withdraw
entirely from the deal. Bolton has deep connections
to the Mojahedin-e-Khalq (MEK), an exiled Iranian
political group widely identified as a terrorist
organization. He has, for some time, considered them
a government in waiting after the U.S. overthrows
the current administration. “Before 2019, we will
celebrate in Tehran,” he <a
href="https://www.nytimes.com/2018/05/07/world/middleeast/john-bolton-regime-change-iran.html"
target="_blank" moz-do-not-send="true">told</a>
the group in 2018, predicting that, with him at the
helm, the Trump administration would soon cause the
downfall of the Iranian government.</p>
<p>Bolton has long been a hardliner on regime change.
“To stop Iran’s bomb, bomb Iran,” read the title of
his 2015 New York Times <a
href="https://www.nytimes.com/2015/03/26/opinion/to-stop-irans-bomb-bomb-iran.html"
target="_blank" moz-do-not-send="true">op-ed</a>.
Yet this appears to be the dominant position at
UANI. In March, Ross published an <a
href="https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2023/03/iran-united-states-nuclear-bomb-weapon-israel/673268/"
target="_blank" moz-do-not-send="true">article</a>
in The Atlantic headlined “Iran needs to believe
America’s threat,” which demanded that the U.S.
“take forceful action to check Tehran’s progress
toward a nuclear bomb.” Failure to do so, Ross
claimed, would provoke Israel to do so itself – a
“much more dangerous scenario,” according to him.
Yet only two years previously, Ross called on the
U.S. to “give Israel a big bomb” to “deter Iran,”
noting that the “best way” to stop the Iranian
nuclear program was to supply Israel with its own
nukes, thereby taken as a given that Iran was indeed
pursuing nuclear weapons itself (a highly
questionable claim at the time) and ignoring
Israel’s already existing 200+ <a
href="https://www.timesofisrael.com/in-leaked-emails-colin-powell-says-israel-has-200-nukes/"
target="_blank" moz-do-not-send="true">stockpile</a>
of nuclear missiles.</p>
<p>“It doesn’t seem like UANI ever really took
seriously the possibility of a diplomatic means to
constrain Iran from continuing to increase its
enrichment levels and moving towards a nuclear
weapon,” Clifton told MintPress. “As a matter of
fact, they generally fought tooth and nail against
the JCPOA. They are eager to push the United States
toward confrontation with Iran using the possibility
of Iranian nuclear weapons as a reason,” he added.</p>
<h2>Intelligence Connections</h2>
<p>That UANI is headed by so many state, military and
intelligence leaders begs the question: to what
extent is this really a non-governmental
organization? “That is one of the dirty secrets of
think tanks: they are very often holding tanks for
government officials,” Freeman said, adding:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>The Trump folks all had to leave office when
Biden won, so a lot of them ended up in think
tanks for a while, four years, let’s say. And if
Trump wins again, they will bounce back into
government. And the same is true of Democratic
administrations, too.”</p>
</blockquote>
<p>The U.S. government also clearly has a longstanding
policy of outsourcing much of its work to “private”
groups in order to avoid further scrutiny. Many of
the CIA’s most controversial activities, for
example, have been farmed out to the <a
href="https://www.mintpressnews.com/documents-reveal-us-ned-spent-22m-promoting-anti-russia-narrative-ukraine/279734/"
moz-do-not-send="true">National Endowment for
Democracy</a> (NED), a technically
non-governmental organization funded entirely by
Washington and staffed with ex-state officials. In
recent years, the NED has <a
href="https://www.mintpressnews.com/hong-kong-protest-united-states-destabilize-china/261712/"
moz-do-not-send="true">funneled</a> millions of
dollars to protest leaders in Hong Kong, <a
href="https://www.mintpressnews.com/documents-point-to-us-hand-in-cuba-protests/277987/"
moz-do-not-send="true">organized</a> an attempted
color revolution in Cuba, <a
href="https://jacobin.com/2020/06/us-intervention-venezuela-hugo-chavez-ned"
target="_blank" moz-do-not-send="true">organized</a>
anti-government rock concerts in Venezuela, and <a
href="https://www.mintpressnews.com/documents-reveal-us-ned-spent-22m-promoting-anti-russia-narrative-ukraine/279734/"
moz-do-not-send="true">propped</a> up dozens of
media organizations in Ukraine.</p>
<p>These sorts of institutions blur the line between
public and private sectors. But a 2014 legal case
raises even more questions about UANI’s connections
to the U.S. government. After UANI accused Greek
shipping magnate Victor Restis of working with the
Iranian government, he sued them for libel. In an <a
href="https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2014/09/eric-holder-state-secrets-defamation-lawsuit-iran/"
target="_blank" moz-do-not-send="true">unprecedented</a>
move for what was a private, commercial lawsuit,
Attorney General Eric Holder intervened in the
lawsuit, ordering the judge to shut the case down on
the grounds that, if it continued, it would expose
key U.S. national security secrets. The case was
immediately dropped without explanation.</p>
<p>In the past, when the Justice Department has
invoked state secrets, a high-ranking state official
has offered a public statement as to why. Yet, this
time, nothing was offered. Reporters at the time <a
href="https://www.twn.my/title2/resurgence/2015/298-299/world2.htm"
target="_blank" moz-do-not-send="true">speculated</a>
that much of the material Restis wanted to make
public was possibly given to UANI by either the CIA
or Mossad, which would have revealed a network of
collusion between state intelligence agencies and a
supposedly independent, private non-profit. Given
the glut of ex-Mossad and CIA chiefs at UANI, this
speculation is perhaps not as wild as it might seem.</p>
<p>UANI’s funders certainly also have extensive
connections to Israel. Kaplan is the son-in-law of
Israeli billionaire Leon Recanati and is <a
href="https://www.richardsilverstein.com/2022/07/20/tom-kaplan-israels-anti-iran-svengali/"
target="_blank" moz-do-not-send="true">said</a> to
be close with Prime Ministers Naftali Bennet and
Yair Lapid. He has also employed a number of Israeli
officials at his businesses. An example of this is <a
href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/olivia-blechner-2ba0784/"
target="_blank" moz-do-not-send="true">Olivia
Blechner</a>, who, in 2007, left her role as the
Director of Academic Affairs at the Israeli
Consulate General in New York to become Executive
Vice-President of Investor Relations and Research at
Kaplan’s Electrum Group – a rather perplexing career
move.</p>
<p>Adelson, meanwhile, was given what amounted to an
official state funeral in Israel, one that even
Prime Minister Netanyahu attended. He was buried on
the Mount of Olives in Jerusalem – one of the
holiest sites in Judaism and an honor that very few
figures receive.</p>
<h2>A Network of Regime Change Groups</h2>
<p>While United Against Nuclear Iran is already a
notable enough organization, it is actually merely
part of a large group of shadowy non-governmental
groups working to cause unrest and, ultimately,
regime change in Iran. These groups all share
overlapping goals, funders and key individuals.</p>
<p>One example of this is the Counter Extremism
Project (CEP), a non-profit that <a
href="https://www.counterextremism.com/about"
target="_blank" moz-do-not-send="true">purports</a>
to exist to “combat the growing threat posed by
extremist ideologies.” Yet the group focuses largely
on Islamist extremism – and only those groups that
are enemies of the U.S., Israel and the Gulf
Monarchies (about whose extremism and violence the
CEP has nothing to say). Ten members of the CEP’s <a
href="https://www.counterextremism.com/leadership"
target="_blank" moz-do-not-send="true">leadership
council</a> are also on UANI’s board, including
Wallace, who is CEO of both organizations.</p>
<p>Another group headed by Wallace is the Jewish
Committee to Support Women Life Freedom in Iran.
This organization claims to be focused on improving
women’s rights in Iran. It very quickly, however,
divulges that this is a vehicle for regime change.
On its homepage, for example, it <a
href="https://supportwomanlifefreedom.com/"
target="_blank" moz-do-not-send="true">writes</a>:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>These freedom fighters continue with no sign of
relenting on their calls for regime change. Calls
for “Woman Life Freedom” and the removal of
Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei echo from
rooftops, down street corridors, across campus
hallways, and on government billboards. These
brave Iranians have expressed their hatred for the
ruling clerics not only in their words, but in
their actions.”</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Seven members of the Jewish Committee to Support
Women Life Freedom in Iran’s <a
href="https://supportwomanlifefreedom.com/"
target="_blank" moz-do-not-send="true">steering
group</a> – including Wallace and Kaplan – also
lead UANI.</p>
<img
src="https://www.mintpressnews.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/FpgIthkWcAAP6ey_edited.jpg"
alt="" class="gmail-moz-reader-block-img"
style="margin-right: 25px;" moz-do-not-send="true"
width="391" height="244">Mike Wallace, second from
right, poses with prominent anti-Iran figures at a
lobbying event in Italy, February 2023. Photo |
Twitter
<p>Kaplan is well-known as a conservationist. However,
his group, Panthera, which works to preserve the
world’s 40 known species of big cats, has also been
accused of being a secret regime change operation.
Panthera has a number of UANI officials on its <a
href="https://panthera.org/pantheras-board-members" target="_blank"
moz-do-not-send="true">board</a> or <a
href="https://panthera.org/conservation-council"
target="_blank" moz-do-not-send="true">conservation
council</a>, including Wallace and Lamb (the
ex-director of U.K. Special Forces and Commander of
the British Army). Also on the council are Itzhak
Dar, former Director of the Israeli Secret Service,
Shin Bet, and General David Petraeus, former CIA
Director and Commander of the U.S. invasion of
Afghanistan.</p>
<p>In 2018, Iranian authorities <a
href="https://news.mongabay.com/2020/02/iran-upholds-heavy-sentences-for-conservationists-convicted-of-spying/"
target="_blank" moz-do-not-send="true">arrested</a>
eight individuals working with Panthera inside the
country. All eight were convicted of spying on
behalf of the U.S. and Israel. While many in the
West decried the trials as politically motivated,
any organization led by these figures is bound to
cause suspicions.</p>
<p>This is especially the case as Wallace is also a
founder of PaykanArtCar, an organization that
attempts to use art to, in its <a
href="https://paykanartcar.com/about-us/#history"
target="_blank" moz-do-not-send="true">words</a>,
“advocate for the restoration of human rights and
dignity for all in Iran.” All three team members of
PaykanArtCar also work at UANI.</p>
<p>The final group in this Iran regime change network
is the International Convention for the Future of
Iran. Set up by Wallace himself, the organization’s
website <a
href="https://iransfuture.org/who-we-are/"
target="_blank" moz-do-not-send="true">explains</a>
that it exists to “end the repression of the regime
and bring true change to Iran.” Further <a
href="https://iransfuture.org/what-we-do/"
target="_blank" moz-do-not-send="true">purposes</a>
are to “connect the Iranian opposition in exile
[i.e., the MEK] with policymakers in the United
States and internationally” and to “offer program
grants and technical support” to groups working to
overthrow the government. However, judging by the
lack of updates and the group’s Twitter profile
having only 31 followers, it appears that it has not
had much success achieving its goals.</p>
<p>In short, then, there exists a network of American
NGOs with the mission statements of helping Iran,
opposing Iran, preserving Iran, and bombing Iran,
all staffed by largely the same ex-U.S. government
officials.</p>
<p>Iran, however, is not the only target in Wallace’s
sights. It appears that he is also trying to give
Turkey similar treatment. Wallace is the CEO of the
Turkish Democracy Project, a non-profit established
to oppose the rule of President Recep Tayyip
Erdoğan, who, it <a
href="https://turkishdemocracy.com/about-us/"
target="_blank" moz-do-not-send="true">says</a>,
has “dramatically altered Turkey’s position in the
international community and its status as a free and
liberal democracy.” The Turkish Democracy Project
denounces what it calls Erdoğan’s “destabilizing
actions in and beyond the region, his systemic
corruption, support for extremism, and disregard for
democracy and human rights.” There are <a
href="https://quincyinst.org/2021/11/26/dark-money-network-pushes-pro-uae-saudi-policies-from-new-york/"
target="_blank" moz-do-not-send="true">no Turkish
people</a> among the Turkish Democracy Project’s
leadership. But there are <a
href="https://turkishdemocracy.com/about-us/"
target="_blank" moz-do-not-send="true">seven</a>
UANI board members at the top, calling the shots.</p>
<h2>A Lesson From History</h2>
<p>The history of Iran has been intimately intertwined
with the United States since at least 1953 when
Washington orchestrated a successful coup against
Prime Minister Mohammad Mosaddegh. Mosaddegh had
refused U.S. demands to stamp out Communist
influences in his country and had nationalized the
nation’s oil. The U.S. installed Shah Mohammad Reza
Pahlavi as a puppet ruler. An unpopular and
authoritarian ruler, the Shah was overthrown in the
Revolution of 1979. Since then, it has become a
target for regime change, and its nuclear program is
something of an obsession in the West.</p>
<p>Often orchestrated by UANI officials while they
were in government, the U.S. has carried out a
sustained economic war against Tehran, attempting to
collapse its economy. American sanctions have
severely hurt Iran’s ability to both buy and sell
goods on the open market and have harmed the value
of the Iranian rial. As prices and inflation rose
rapidly, ordinary people lost their savings.</p>
<p>During the COVID-19 pandemic, the U.S. turned the
screw once again, intimidating both businesses and
nations into refusing to sell Tehran vital medical
supplies. Eventually, the World Health Organization
stepped in and directly supplied it with provisions
– a factor in the Trump administration’s decision to
pull out of the agency.</p>
<p>While U.S. actions have severely harmed the Iranian
economy, a future bright spot may come in the form
of BRICS, the economic bloc that Iran – along with
Egypt, Ethiopia, Saudi Arabia, and the UAE – joined
on January 1. American economic power on the global
stage appears to be waning. However, This new
reality might spur Washington policymakers to
reconsider a military option, as UANI desperately
wants them to.</p>
<p>It is perfectly reasonable to be worried about Iran
– or any country, for that matter – developing
atomic bombs. Nuclear weapons pose an existential
threat to human civilization, and more actors with
access to them increase the likelihood of a
devastating confrontation. Already in the region,
India, Pakistan, Israel and Russia possess them. But
it is only the United States that has ever used them
in anger, dropping two on Japan and coming close to
doing so in China, Korea and Vietnam. And given the
U.S.’ recent track record of attacking countries
that <i>do not</i> possess weapons of mass
destruction (e.g., Iraq, Libya, Afghanistan) and not
touching those who do (such as North Korea), it is
entirely understandable why Iran might want one. As
Freeman said:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>I certainly do not want Iran to get a nuclear
weapon. But at the same time, you can also believe
that it would be catastrophic if the U.S. were to
engage in a war with Iran…And the concern with
groups like UANI is that they are taking that [the
worry of Iran getting a nuclear weapon] and
pushing that argument to a point where it might
lead to an active conflict.”</p>
</blockquote>
<p>The slaughter in Gaza has been horrifying enough.
More than 22,000 people have been killed in the
Israeli invasion, and a further 1.9 million
displaced. Israel is also simultaneously bombing the
West Bank, Syria and Lebanon. The U.S. is
facilitating this, sending billions of dollars in
weaponry, pledging iron-clad political support to
Israel, silencing critics of its actions, and
vetoing United Nations resolutions.</p>
<p>But United Against Nuclear Iran is eager to
escalate the situation to a vastly greater level,
urging Washington to attack a well-armed country of
nearly 90 million people, erroneously claiming that
Iran is behind every Hamas or Hezbollah action.
“This is not a nuclear non-proliferation
organization” Clifton said, noting that there are
plenty of genuine already existing peace and
environmental groups worried about nuclear weapons
that either supported the JCPOA or said it did not
go far enough. “Their focus is more on working
towards regime change in Iran rather than actually
supporting efforts that might prevent Iranian
nuclear weapons,” he added.</p>
<p>IF UANI gets its way, a conflict with Iran might
spark a Third World War. And yet they are receiving
virtually no pushback to their ultra-hawkish
pronouncements, largely because they operate in the
shadows and receive virtually no public scrutiny. It
is, therefore, imperative for all those who value
peace to quickly change that and expose the
organization for what it is.</p>
<p>Feature photo | Illustration by MintPress News</p>
<p><em><strong><a
href="https://twitter.com/AlanRMacLeod"
rel="noopener" target="_blank"
moz-do-not-send="true">Alan MacLeod</a></strong>
is Senior Staff Writer for MintPress News. After
completing his PhD in 2017, he published two
books, <a
href="https://www.routledge.com/Bad-News-from-Venezuela-Twenty-years-of-fake-news-and-misreporting/Macleod/p/book/9781138489233"
rel="noopener" target="_blank"
moz-do-not-send="true">Bad News From Venezuela:
Twenty Years of Fake News and Misreporting</a> and <a
href="https://www.routledge.com/Propaganda-in-the-Information-Age-Still-Manufacturing-Consent-1st-Edition/MacLeod/p/book/9781138366404?fbclid=IwAR2xQQWJd98C25wapG4ynmlEnGvL5wxG_mp5RwpBwtwPDxInjNZ1Oo7KD-E"
rel="noopener" target="_blank"
moz-do-not-send="true">Propaganda in the
Information Age: Still Manufacturing Consent</a>, as
well as <a
href="https://journalcontent.mediatheoryjournal.org/index.php/mt/article/view/65/56"
rel="noopener" target="_blank"
moz-do-not-send="true">a</a> <a
href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/0306396818823639#articleShareContainer"
rel="noopener" target="_blank"
moz-do-not-send="true">number</a> <a
href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/blar.12940"
rel="noopener" target="_blank"
moz-do-not-send="true">of</a> <a
href="https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fcomm.2018.00064/full"
rel="noopener" target="_blank"
moz-do-not-send="true">academic</a> <a
href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/0896920518820934"
rel="noopener" target="_blank"
moz-do-not-send="true">articles</a>. He has also
contributed to <a
href="https://fair.org/author/alan-macleod/"
rel="noopener" target="_blank"
moz-do-not-send="true">FAIR.org</a>, <a
href="https://www.theguardian.com/profile/alan-macleod" rel="noopener"
target="_blank" moz-do-not-send="true">The
Guardian</a>, <a
href="https://www.salon.com/writer/alan-macleod"
rel="noopener" target="_blank"
moz-do-not-send="true">Salon</a>, <a
href="https://thegrayzone.com/author/alan-macleod/" rel="noopener"
target="_blank" moz-do-not-send="true">The
Grayzone</a>, <a
href="https://jacobinmag.com/author/alan-macleod" rel="noopener"
target="_blank" moz-do-not-send="true">Jacobin
Magazine</a>, and <a
href="https://www.commondreams.org/author/alan-macleod" rel="noopener"
target="_blank" moz-do-not-send="true">Common
Dreams</a>.</em></p>
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