{"id":2019184,"date":"2023-09-01T10:34:02","date_gmt":"2023-09-01T14:34:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/congress-investigates-us-military-for-feting-iranian-official-who-bragged-about-efforts-to-assassinate-american-leaders\/"},"modified":"2023-09-01T10:37:53","modified_gmt":"2023-09-01T14:37:53","slug":"congress-investigates-us-military-for-feting-iranian-official-who-bragged-about-efforts-to-assassinate-american-leaders","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/congress-investigates-us-military-for-feting-iranian-official-who-bragged-about-efforts-to-assassinate-american-leaders\/","title":{"rendered":"Congress probes US military for hosting Iranian official who boasted about plotting to kill American leaders."},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"float:left\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">32<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fcongress-investigates-us-military-for-feting-iranian-official-who-bragged-about-efforts-to-assassinate-american-leaders%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2019184&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><div>\n<h2>Congress Demands\u200d Answers from U.S. Military Leaders Over Controversial Invitation<\/h2>\n<blockquote>\n<p>Congress is \u200ddemanding answers from senior U.S. military leaders after one of the country\u2019s <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/congress-investigates-us-military-for-feting-iranian-official-who-bragged-about-efforts-to-assassinate-american-leaders\/\" title=\"Congress probes US military for hosting Iranian official who boasted about plotting to kill American leaders.\">premier war fighting outfits hosted<\/a> a former Iranian official \u2062who came\u2062 under fire last \u200cyear for bragging about the hardline regime\u2019s efforts to \u2063assassinate\u200b American leaders, the\u200c <em>Washington\u200b Free Beacon<\/em> has learned.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>The probe\u2014spearheaded by Sen.\u200b Roger Wicker (R., Miss.) and\u2062 Rep. Mike Rogers (R., \u200cAla.), ranking member of the\u200c Senate Armed Services Committee and chair of the House Armed Services Committee\u2014comes on the heels of a <a href=\"https:\/\/freebeacon.com\/national-security\/u-s-strategic-command-hosts-former-iranian-official-who-bragged-about-efforts-to-assassinate-u-s-leaders\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><em>Free Beacon<\/em> report<\/a> \u2063 on U.S. Strategic Command\u2019s decision to host\u200b a keynote \u2063address by\u200c Hussein Mousavian, a former member\u2064 of Iran\u2019s <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/princeton-faculty-member-brags-about-death-threats-against-trump-admin-envoy\/\" title=\"Princeton Faculty Member Brags About Death Threats Against Trump Admin Envoy\">nuclear negotiating team<\/a> who <a href=\"https:\/\/sgs.princeton.edu\/team\/seyed-hossein-mousavian\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">works<\/a> \u2062 as\u2062 a Middle East security and\u2063 nuclear policy\u2064 specialist at Princeton University.<\/p>\n<p>Mousavian\u2062 was \u200dinvited by top military \u2063brass to address STRATCOM\u2019s 2023 Deterrence Symposium, a\u200c <a href=\"https:\/\/www.stratcomds.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/us-strategic-command-hosts-former-iranian-official-who-bragged-about-efforts-to-assassinate-us-leaders\/\" title=\"US Strategic Command welcomes ex-Iranian official boasting about attempts to kill US leaders.\">high-level powwow<\/a><\/a> that\u200b gave the former Iranian official access to high-level Americans leaders.<\/p>\n<p>Mousavian\u2019s appearance at the military\u200d confab drew criticism from\u2064 former U.S. officials and members of Congress, who raised concerns about\u200c American military members \u2062hobnobbing with a close ally of \u2062Iran\u2019s hardline regime. Now, the matter\u200b is under investigation \u2064by the House and Senate Armed Services Committees, which have oversight jurisdiction\u200b over STRATCOM and the Pentagon.<\/p>\n<p>Wicker and Rogers are demanding to know &#8220;the names and positions of all officials responsible for approving the invitation \u200bto Mousavian,&#8221; according\u2064 to \u2062a <a href=\"https:\/\/freebeacon.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/Letter-to-Gen.-Cotton-re-Mousavian-08.30.23-FINAL.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">letter<\/a> \u2062sent Thursday to STRATCOM commander Gen. \u2063Anthony \u2062Cotton\u200c and obtained by \u200dthe <em>Free Beacon<\/em>.\u2062 Mousavian thanked Cotton \u200cfor inviting him to the conference during his remarks at the gathering.<\/p>\n<p>Congressional investigators also want to know \u200dif the \u200dU.S. military provided compensation to Mousavian, or paid for his travel, hotel, or other accommodations.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Providing Mousavian \u200bwith an officially sanctioned\u200c U.S. Government platform for \u2063spreading historical\u2063 falsehoods and Iranian \u200bregime \u200cpropaganda is \u2064profoundly \u2062ill-advised,&#8221; Wicker and Rogers write. &#8220;The \u2062decision to\u200d invite Mousavian to address its Deterrence\u2063 Symposium calls into question the judgement of any personnel involved in such a decision, and leads\u2063 us to question whether the command is appropriately\u2063 focused on meeting \u200dthe\u200c rapidly growing strategic\u200c threats to \u2063the \u200dUnited States \u2064and its allies.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>The lawmakers\u200b point out that Mousavian has &#8220;mocked U.S. \u2062officials under\u2062 assassination threat from the Iranian regime.&#8221; Those comments, <a href=\"https:\/\/freebeacon.com\/campus\/princeton-official-brags-about-death-threats-against-trump-admin-envoy\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">made<\/a> in a\u2063 2022 documentary produced by Iran\u2019s Islamic \u2062Revolutionary Guards\u2063 Corps, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/congress-seeks-to-reimpose-sanctions-on-iran-backed-houthis-after-uae-terror-strike\/\" title=\"Congress Seeks To Reimpose Sanctions on Iran-Backed Houthis After UAE Terror Strike\">drew widespread condemnation<\/a> and calls for Princeton \u2064to fire the former Iranian official.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Mousavian smiled while \u200dreferring to Iranian death threats against former special representative for Iran Brian \u200cHook,&#8221; the lawmakers write.<\/p>\n<p>During his speech \u2062at\u200c the STRATCOM \u2064conference, Mousavian \u2062presented an &#8220;Iranian perspective&#8221; on the \u2063current threat\u2064 landscape within the Middle East and accused America of committing unjustified acts of aggression towards Iran\u2064 dating back nearly\u200c a century.<\/p>\n<p>The Princeton professor also criticized former president Donald Trump for \u200cnixing\u200d the\u2063 2015 nuclear deal \u200dwith Iran, claiming the Islamic Republic was fully complying with its restrictions.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Iran complied completely [with the deal] with zero failure \u200bfor three years, but \u2063the U.S. again broke the promise,&#8221; Mousavian said. &#8220;Trump&#8217;s\u200c withdrawal \u200bfrom \u2064the nuclear deal was really \u200da\u200b disaster.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Trump &#8220;also had popular Iranian Revolutionary\u200d Guard General [Qassem] Soleimani \u200bassassinated,&#8221; added Mousavian, who\u200d attended the late\u2063 terrorist leader&#8217;s funeral in Tehran.<\/p>\n<p>Richard \u200cGoldberg, a former White\u2062 House National \u200cSecurity \u200cCouncil member,\u200b warned the situation has now elicited &#8220;a catastrophic crisis\u2063 of \u200dconfidence in \u2064this\u200b command&#8217;s judgment.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>A STRATCOM spokesman defended the\u2064 invitation to Mousavian when contacted earlier this week by the <em>Free \u200dBeacon<\/em>.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;We were aware of Mr. Mousavian\u2019s \u2063previous position within\u200d the \u2064Iranian government and \u200bbelieve \u200bthat, in the context of the Deterrence \u2063Symposium, we would\u200d have benefited \u2062from that \u2062insight\u2063 into an opposing viewpoint,&#8221; the spokesman said.<\/p>\n<p>Republicans \u2062in Congress disagree.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Mousavian helped\u2062 lead \u2064the murderous Iranian regime\u2019s efforts to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/bolton-taliban-may-seize-nuclear-weapons-from-pakistan-says-pakistani-military-has-radical-islamists-in-its-ranks\/\" title=\"Bolton: Taliban may seize Nuclear Weapons from Pakistan, says Pakistani military has radical Islamists in its ranks\">obtain nuclear weapons<\/a> so \u2064it could threaten the United States and our allies\u200b with annihilation,&#8221; Rep. \u2063Jim Banks (R., Ind.), also \u2062a member of the House \u2063Armed Services \u2063Committee, told the <em>Free Beacon<\/em> on Tuesday. &#8220;Now he\u2019s in semi-retirement \u2063at Princeton as a full-time propagandist for the IRGC. Inviting him to spread lies at a U.S. military seminar\u200b is insanity.&#8221;<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Congress is seeking explanations from top U.S. military leaders as they express concern over a prominent war fighting group hosting a former Iranian official. This official faced criticism for boasting about the hardline regime&#8217;s attempts to assassinate American leaders. Sen. Roger Wicker (R., Miss.) is leading the investigation, according to the Washington Free Beacon.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":117,"featured_media":2019185,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/cndimages.nyc3.digitaloceanspaces.com\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/IMG_2758-scaled-1.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[544],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2019184","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-the-free-beacon"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/cndimages.nyc3.digitaloceanspaces.com\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/IMG_2758-scaled-1.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2019184","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/117"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2019184"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2019184\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2019185"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2019184"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2019184"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2019184"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}