New report IDs groups in US allegedly promoting pro-Iranian propaganda, one met with Kamala Harris

A dramatic new report from researchers at George Washington University identifies a dozen organizations, some operating in the U.S. under tax-exempt status, whose purpose is to promote pro-Iranian propaganda, and includes photos of Vice President Kamala Harris happily interacting with one alleged operative: Imam Mohammad Ali Elahi.

The photos were taken in 2021 at Elahi’s Islamic House of Wisdom in Michigan at an event Democrat Gov. Gretchen Whitmer also attended and was for the purpose of advancing the COVID-19 vaccinations.

But the Oct. 9 report, "Propaganda, Procurement and Lethal Operations: Iran's Activities Inside America," describes Elahi as a radical who has likened Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to “Hitler” carrying out a "holocaust" against the Palestinians and who has referred to the Israeli military as a “terrorist cult.”

Elahi, who once served as head of the Iranian Navy’s political-ideological office, has cast doubts on Al-Qaeda’s role in the 9/11 terror attacks and was friendly with Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, who was instrumental in the hostage crisis of 1979 in which 53 Americans were held captive for 444 days.

“What arguably constitutes the most problematic aspect of Imam Elahi's persona is his explicit and continuous support for Hezbollah,” says the report.

While some will no doubt interpret the association of Harris, now the Democratic presidential nominee, with Elahi as undercutting her oft-stated support of Israel in its ongoing war with Hamas, the report is non-partisan, one of its authors, Lara Burns, told Just the News.

Burns said she does not know how much information Harris had when the photos of her smiling next to Elahi were taken three years ago.

“These are just examples of attempts to gain credibility and influence by rubbing shoulders with people of prominence,” she said.

Elahi and others in the report “operate under the cloak of organizations that represent a segment of the population, but they don’t disclose their true agenda, which is to spread Iranian-regime rhetoric for the purpose of radicalizing and recruiting,” Burns also said.

Burns added that one step toward solving the problem would be to rethink the charitable status of the groups operating stateside.

“The whole benefit is that you are contributing to the public good, and if an organization is driving the agenda of a sponsor of terrorism like Iran, that’s not for the public good,” she said. “There should be extra scrutiny on their tax-exempt status.”

While Harris did not respond to a request for comment from Just the News, she was recently asked on CBS News' 60 Minutes to name the nation that is America’s greatest adversary, and she answered it was Iran. And on Wednesday she was on Fox News to explain her answer.

“Critics say that you either relaxed or failed to enforce sanctions on Iran, allowing all of this money to flow into Iran, like, billions in oil profits,” host Bret Baier said during a combative interview in which the two frequently spoke over each other.

Harris responded: “Let’s go back to Donald Trump … who pulled out of the deal that would have actually put Iran in check,” referring to him as president ending of a nuclear deal struck by preceding President Barack Obama in favor of beefing up sanctions.

The report was made public just prior to Netanyahu announcing Thursday that Israeli military forces killed Yahya Sinwar, the Hamas leader who masterminded the Oct. 7, 2023, attack that killed about 1,200 civilians.

“Evil suffered a heavy blow,” Netanyahu said. “This is the beginning of the day after Hamas, and this is an opportunity for you, the residents of Gaza, to finally break free from its tyranny.”

On Thursday, Harris also addressed the nation about the killing of Sinwar.

“Justice has been served, and the United States, Israel and the entire world are better off as a result,” she said. “He had American blood on his hands. Today, I can only hope that the families of the victims of Hamas feel a sense and measure of  relief.”

While GWU report is not focused on Hamas, it notes that Iran provides about $100 million annually to Hamas and other terrorist groups, while Elahi and organizations tied to him funnel money from the U.S. to Iran.

The 126-page report includes 498 citations, and photos of Obama and former Secretary of State John Kerry hobnobbing with Imam Hassan Qazwini in 2008 and 2014, respectively.

Qazwini leads the tax-exempt Islamic Institute of America and is described in the report as “one of the most influential Shia figures in the U.S.” He has also met with presidents Bill Clinton and George W. Bush and former Vice President Al Gore, among others.

Qazwini has said the riot at the Capitol building on Jan. 6, 2021, was a punishment from God because then-President Trump oversaw the operation that killed Qasem Soleimani, whom the U.S. had identified as one of the world’s top terrorists.

Qazwini is also known for his antisemitic rhetoric, according to the report, claiming that Israel is behind ISIS and that its citizens are “the enemies of Islam” and promising that Jerusalem “will be a Muslim city.”

Another prolific organization for spreading Iranian propaganda is the Alavi Foundation, a prime benefactor of Elahi that has reportedly donated $1.9 million to American colleges like Harvard University, Columbia University, the University of California at Berkeley and others that saw their share of anti-Israel protests since Hezbollah terrorists' attacked the nation on Oct. 7, 2023.

The report notes that in 2008 the Department of Justice argued that Alavi “secretly served as a front for the Iranian government and as a gateway for millions of dollars to be funneled to Iran in clear violation of U.S. sanction laws,” setting off a legal battle that is ongoing today.

The New York Post earlier reported that Elahi is a regular donor to Democrats through ActBlue, a platform also used by Thomas Matthews Crooks, the 20-year-old would-be assassin who shot President Donald Trump in the ear at a Pennsylvania rally in July.

While Burns said she and the other authors of the report found no evidence of an Iranian connection to either of the two attempted assassinations of Trump, the report notes that the U.S. is “aware of multiple plots against U.S. officials,” including John Bolton, Trump’s former security adviser.

The “desire to avenge Soleimani’s death led to a set of lethal plots against former Trump Administration officials,” the report states.

The report also notes that Hezbollah is the oldest, most established of Iran’s proxies and it has long operated in the U.S. George Washington University’s Program on Extremism has identified 142 U.S.-based individuals who have been prosecuted for Hezbollah activities since 2000.

“The possibility that Iran and its proxies could mobilize known and trusted assets based in the U.S. rather than hired guns to carry out some kind of violent action in the future is a concrete one,” according to the report.

Among others who have mingled with Elahi are Sen. Gary Peters, Rep. Debbie Dingell and the late Congressman John Conyers, all Democrats from Michigan, a state that is well represented in the report, as it is home to Elahi’s House of Wisdom and several other pro-Iranian entities.

House of Wisdom has operated from Dearborn, Michigan, as a federally tax-exempt organization since 1996, and it regularly praises Khomeini and Iranian-style democracy that is insinuates should be copied worldwide.

Elahi is also the only identifiable American member of Ahl Al-Bayt World Assembly, a group founded in 1994 by Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei that operates in 90 countries.

The report notes that ABWA is barred from operating directly in the U.S. due to sanctions, though it reportedly organizes trips for American academics hoping to meet regime leaders at its headquarters in the holy city of Qom, Iran.

The report calls ABWA “one of the main tools for spreading the Iranian regime’s version of Shia Islam and supporting its agenda.”

Just the News reached out not only to the Harris campaign, but Dingell, Peters, Elahi and Qazwini, as well, and it will update this story should any of them respond.