[Home]  [Headlines]  [Latest Articles]  [Latest Comments]  [Post]  [Sign-in]  [Mail]  [Setup]  [Help] 

Status: Not Logged In; Sign In

BBC Under Fire for CENSORING Gaza Medic Documentary

US is Agreement Incapable

Blow to Israeli Intelligence. taping Israelis in bathrooms

“They have 500 mRNA shots in the pipeline.”

A US federal judge has DENIED Gavin Newsom's request to stop Trump from using the National Guard in Los Angeles.

Have You Noticed That Seismic Activity Has Been Going Nuts All Over The Globe

The Vax was meant to CAUSE cancer.... listen to this - this clip from RFK Jr's site

CNN Immediately Cuts Off Panelist Who Tells the Truth About the LA Riots

Army Secretary declares war on the military industrial complex

Former Israeli PM Threatens U.S. Will Get 'A Re-Run Of 9-11' If It Doesn't Fight Israel's Wars

7 Examples Of The “Mostly Peaceful” Los Angeles Riots Becoming Even More “Peaceful”

Biden Admin and ActBlue Funded Group Behind Abolish ICE Protests in LA

Murderers, rapists, gang members: ICE busts 12 of LA's 'worst' illegal alien criminals amid riots

LA Mayor Karen Bass Threatens Feds: Withdraw From LA Or the Violence Will Escalate –

Woman points gun at police and finds out

EXCLUSIVE: Rep. Ronny Jackson Accuses Biden Doctor Kevin O’Connor Of Sexual Misconduct

WHAT YOU’RE WITNESSING IN LOS ANGELES ISN’T JUST UNREST—IT’S MORAL COLLAPSE

Anna Paulina Luna Exposes the Guy Behind the Anti-ICE Riots

Mike Huckabee Working To Keep Netanyahu in Power

Israeli Military and Israeli-Backed Gang Shoot Aid Seekers in Gaza, Killing 14

Only 68 Building Permits Issued for Pacific Palisades After Wildfires Destroyed 6800 Structures

Violent Rioters Fire Off Exploding Projectiles at Police Horses Use Fireworks and Explosives to Attack Police

ICE Just Shattered Records With One Massive Operation That Has Democrats Fuming

Nolte: Insurrectionist Democrats Plan Another Summer of Blue City-Riots

Violent riots have now been reported in over 30 American cities. Heres a full list:

Mass shooter opened fire at graduation party was an migrant who was busted in LA ICE raids:

Cash Jordan: ICE Raids Home Depot... as California Collapses

Silver Is Finally Soaring: Here's Why

New 4um Interface Coming Soon

Attack of the Dead-2025.


World News
See other World News Articles

Title: The Curious Case Of Ariane Tabatabai
Source: [None]
URL Source: https://www.zerohedge.com/geopolitical/curious-case-ariane-tabatabai
Published: Oct 30, 2024
Author: Tyler Durden
Post Date: 2024-10-30 16:09:14 by Horse
Keywords: None
Views: 404
Comments: 2

Authored by Jay Solomon via The FP.com,

A senior Pentagon official faced scrutiny when her past ties to Iran came to light. Is that why she’s been transferred?

In the weeks leading up to Israel’s retaliatory strikes on Iran this Saturday, someone from inside the U.S. government leaked a cluster of highly sensitive documents outlining the Jewish state’s military deployments.

We may never know the identity of the leaker—there are probably thousands of bureaucrats across the U.S. government who had access to the documents. But of those masses, a single name has been circulating online: Ariane Tabatabai, who’s served as a senior Defense Department official for the past two years.

There is no evidence we have found that Tabatabai is the leaker, despite the fact that various Arab and Israeli news sites reported as much.

In fact, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin this week all but ruled out the culprit being Tabatabai or anyone else from the Pentagon.

But at the same time, the Defense Department, in recent days, quietly transferred the Iranian American academic out of her Pentagon post, which is among the most sensitive in the entire military: chief of staff in the Office of Special Operations and Low Intensity Conflict, or SO/LIC. The job has provided Tabatabai unique access to the highest levels of classified intelligence as well as knowledge of virtually all global U.S. special military operations.

Instead, the Pentagon notified Congress on Friday, October 25 that Tabatabai was “transitioning to her new office” in troop education and training, without specifying the exact date when she left her last post. The new position, Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Force Education and Training, has significantly less access to intelligence and covert military programs, according to former Defense Department officials interviewed by The Free Press.

The Pentagon press office declined to answer questions provided by The Free Press about Tabatabai’s status or the reasons for her transfer. And her job change is likely to deepen questions from Capitol Hill Republicans who’ve been seeking answers for more than a year about Tabatabai’s past interactions with the Iranian government.

Tabatabai was brought into the Biden administration in 2021 to serve on the State Department negotiating team with Iran. Her initial boss, Special Envoy Robert Malley, however, was stripped of his security clearance in the spring of 2023 and is currently being investigated by the FBI for the mishandling of classified information.

Shortly before Malley’s departure, Tabatabai relocated to the Pentagon and eventually took up her position in SO/LIC.

Tabatabai began facing scrutiny last year after a large tranche of Iranian government emails were obtained by the U.S. media outlet Semafor (where I used to work), and Iran International, a Farsi-language television channel.

Included in the data were communications between Tabatabai and senior Iranian diplomats, beginning in 2014, that showed she had been a leading member of the Iran Experts Initiative, an Iranian Foreign Ministry–led program that sought to amplify Tehran’s positions on key national security issues in Western think tanks and the media. In some of the emails, Tabatabai can be seen seeking guidance from Iranian officials on her foreign travels and appearances before Congress.

Tabatabai has never publicly disclosed her role in the IEI.

And a number of Republican members of Congress have been pressing the Pentagon over the past year to strip Tabatabai of her security clearances because of her reported ties to Tehran. The Pentagon declined on Friday to say if her transfer was related to her work with the IEI.

This month, a conservative government watchdog also sued the Pentagon for what it claims has been the department’s failure to answer questions and provide documents related to the activities of Tabatabai and Malley.

Tabatabai’s status is particularly sensitive for the Biden-Harris administration. The academic has worked closely in the past with Vice President Harris’s national security adviser, Philip Gordon, as outlined in an August piece in The Free Press. This included co-authoring a string of opinion pieces in the summer of 2020 that called for the U.S. to return to its nuclear diplomacy with Iran, and to soften some of Washington’s economic sanctions on Tehran.

Tabatabai’s switch at the Pentagon, on paper, is a promotion: The UK- educated PhD is now ranked as a deputy assistant secretary of defense rather than a chief of staff. But in reality, a number of former U.S. defense officials told The Free Press, it’s a clear step down.

“Everyone that is in the know understands that this is not a promotion, right? She wants to be active in the policy space, and going over to education and force training is not,” said Garrett Exner, who served in SO/LIC during the Obama and Trump administrations, and is currently a fellow at the Hudson Institute.

Exner added: The Biden administration transferred Tabatabai to a department “where she can’t really touch any classified material.”

A second SO/LIC veteran said the Iranian American academic has exited a post that’s among the most secretive in the entire U.S. government. “I cannot underscore: The things SO/LIC. . . are doing are more sensitive than what the CIA is doing.”

Post Comment   Private Reply   Ignore Thread  


TopPage UpFull ThreadPage DownBottom/Latest

#1. To: All (#0)

https://www.zerohedge.com/political/michigan-says-nationwide-issue-certain-dominion-machines-while-colorado-leaked-voting

Michigan Says 'Nationwide Issue' With Certain Dominion Machines, While Colorado SoS Leaked Voting System Passwords

"BIOS passwords are highly confidential, allowing broad access for knowledgeable users to fundamentally manipulate systems and data..."

The Truth of 911 Shall Set You Free From The Lie

Horse  posted on  2024-10-30   16:12:37 ET  Reply   Trace   Private Reply  


#2. To: All (#1)

https://www.zerohedge.com/geopolitical/hamas-rejects-ceasefire-proposal-would-keep-israeli-troops-gaza

Hamas Rejects Ceasefire Proposal That Would Keep Israeli Troops In Gaza

American officials involved in the talks were hoping for a ceasefire before the US election.

The Truth of 911 Shall Set You Free From The Lie

Horse  posted on  2024-10-30   16:13:29 ET  Reply   Trace   Private Reply  


TopPage UpFull ThreadPage DownBottom/Latest


[Home]  [Headlines]  [Latest Articles]  [Latest Comments]  [Post]  [Sign-in]  [Mail]  [Setup]  [Help]