Trita Parsi has been a dubious character for yrs now, as far back as I can remember, particularly since 2005, when he caught my attention.
During George W Bush years, Parsi was very active & vocal to ensure any chance of Bush administration removing the mullahs’ regime in Iran was eliminated. He was siding with Reformist wing of the Iranian Regime. He was lobbying intensely through NIAC & produced a couple of books, and was a prolific contributor on Iranian blogs & forums, along with his ‘followers’.
Since Obama administration, I wondered why he had gone rather quiet, at least outwardly. Well, Obama foreign policy regarding Iranian regime explains a great deal.
This description of Trita Parsi & NIAC is very accurate:
“The Council “…opposes sanctions on Iran, soft-pedals any controversial events in Iran, and counsels “patience” regarding Iran’s stance towards its nuclear program.”
“What better way for NIAC representatives to serve their hidden masters in Tehran than by promoting a policy of “peaceful coexistence” between the US and Iran. And to the NIAC, peaceful coexistence meant “…acceptance of [the] Iranian government, accepting Iranian hegemony in the Gulf and its place in other parts of the Middle East, removal of sanctions and pressure against Iran, abandon of assistance to the Iranian people’s resistance against the regime and etc.””
Back then I tried to do some research on Parsi on the net, but not much was available about “him”, only his academic achievements & professional resume.
What you will find about him in Wikipedia is inflated, misleading and in parts completely false. For example, in Wikipedia, it says he was born to a Zoroastrian family. That is categorically FALSE.
Trita Parsi was born to a muslim family, in Khuzestan province of Iran. Most Iranians who lived in Khuzestan province, at the time when Trita Parsi was born, were Iranians of Arab ethnicity, hence most definitely muslims. Khuzestan still has a large Iranian-Arab population.
Also, I know the Zoroastrian priest, who performed the conversion ceremony for Trita Parsi in 1997. Sadly, at that point the Zoroastrian priest was not aware of Parsi’s political inclination, nor was Parsi a political activist at that time.
Additionally, I suspect his birth-name is NOT Trita Parsi. That must be an adopted name. Since many converts choose to adopt a name more in line with their new religion.
In any case, Trita’s relentless pro-Mullah & Islamic stand has only betrayed Iranians of Zoroastrian faith, since the Mullahs’ regime, as with other religious minorities, discriminates against Zoroastrians for housing, education, employment opportunities, and much much more..
Perhaps Trita Parsi is a good example of why, for many centuries after the Islamic invasion of Iran, Zoroastrians did not allow conversion into the faith. And, why the Zoroastrian community in India still does not allow it.
Nevertheless, I should also say that his ‘new faith’ does not & can not prevent him from making choices in life. It is very unfortunate, for him, that he has chosen to lie, mislead, & support a bunch of criminals & charlatans. His actions, however, go precisely against everything that his ‘new faith’ teaches & encourages.
Thanks. Timmerman wrote about this a week or so ago.
We owe a great deal of thanks to Hassan Dai for taking on NIAC. If he had allowed himself to be bullied by NIAC and just gone away, this wouldn’t have come out.
Paul Ryan has been vocal on Iran in the past, so hopefully he’ll take this up. Maybe they are waiting for the debates to spring this on Obama.
Here’s more...(linked from the above article)
Thank You.