The Foreign Policy Institute’s Middle East Chief Rouzbeh Parsi’s role in the impact network has been questioned by, among others, Irankännaren Arvin Khoshnood. He believes that Parsi, in his role as a researcher, spread the message of the Iranian regime.
– He has tried to portray the regime in a positive light and relativize all its crimes, Khoshnood told TV4 News.
The information does not come as a surprise to Khoshnood, who previously warned of the Iranian regime’s impact campaigns.
“Of course, it is very serious and worrying, but it does not come as a shock to those who have followed Iranian politics and have seen how the regime works,” he says.
Accused of promoting the regime
The Iranian Knock claims that Parsi, through his interviews and articles, may have benefited the Iranian regime.
– They have had clear goals with this network, which is that it benefits the regime. He has advocated more trade, cooperation and dialogue with the Islamic regime, which strengthens the Iranian regime
– For example, he talks in various interviews with the media that the regime has a popular mandate, that the regime is not a totalitarian state but a semi -democracy. He has indirectly accused Iranian people of using violence instead of non-violence against the regime. So there have been different things over the years.
He expresses concern about Parsi’s position at the Foreign Policy Institute, which is partly tax -financed and has an influence on Sweden’s foreign policy.
– The reports produced by the institute can affect Sweden’s foreign policy, and in that position Parsi has been able to conduct work that benefits the Iranian regime, says Arvin Khoshnood.
Questioning objectivity
Khoshnood points out that Parsi is often interviewed as an expert in the media.
– More source criticism is needed from media and journalists. You really have to do research about the person and their background before you start interviewing some, he says.
He believes that the purpose of being included in the network has been to understand how Iran reasoned on various foreign policy issues?
– I think the evidence speaks for itself.
Have full trust
Despite TV4 the news revelation and the subsequent criticism, Jakob Hallgren, director of the Foreign Policy Institute, has full confidence in Rouzbeh Parsi.
“Parsi, together with other analysts, met with representatives of Iran, during the period when the West wanted to explore the opportunities for negotiations with Iran for a nuclear energy agreement, is not strange. There were many diplomats and Iran experts who did it at this time, as the West sought a diplomatic solution. It was not strange than that, ”he writes on X.
TV4 News is looking for the Foreign Policy Institute.
This we know about the leaked documents
The leaked documents consist of thousands of emails between Iranian diplomats, analysts and researchers received by the Persian-language news channel Iran International. The TV channel based in London has had a forensic examination of the material to ensure authenticity. No crime has been committed in connection with the fact that the information leaked to the media.
TV4 News and the news channel’s publications are independent of each other.
Rouzbeh Parsi has participated in the email conversations with its e-mail linked to the think tank European Iran Research Group, Eirg.
Joint Comprehensive Action Plan of Action, JCPOA is an agreement that was about limiting the Iranian nuclear program in exchange for sanctions. The agreement was concluded in Vienna July 14, 2015 between Iran and P5+1 (China, France, Russia, the United Kingdom, the United States – and Germany) and the EU.