UI Director: “Is not an impact operation” • Laked documents from Iran
Iran expert Rouzbeh Parsi is linked to impact networks, shows TV4 News review.
The director of the Foreign Policy Institute, Jakob Hallgren, strikes back and has full confidence in his co -workers.
– It is clear that it is problematic when there are vague accusations against one of our employees without facts, he says.
TV4 News can reveal, with the help of leaked documents from Iran’s Foreign Ministry, that Rouzbeh Parsi, Middle East Manager at the Foreign Policy Institute, is linked to an impact network. The network worked to influence the political debate in the West in favor of the Iranian regime.
Departure requirements have been presented and massive criticism has come from several directions. But the director of the Foreign Policy Institute, Jakob Hallgren, strikes back and believes that the information is known since 2013 and that there are no secrets.
– It is clear that it is problematic when it comes to vague charges against one of our employees without facts. We take that seriously, he says.
“Is not an impact operation”
Fredrik Malm, Member of Parliament for the Liberals, says that the Foreign Policy Institute takes TV4 the news tasks too easily. But Jakob Hallgren thinks they have assessed the information before and “see nothing special” with them.
– For example, it has been described on your side as an impact operation, we mean that it is not, he says.
Rouzbeh Parsi has also been criticized for an overly mild attitude towards the regime in Iran. Jakob Hallgren stresses that he has full confidence in his co -workers and that his analyzes in the media are not regime -friendly.
– We have had an ongoing dialogue about this. We have valued and looked at the media and articles that have been around for a number of years. No hard facts have emerged that have been substantiated that there would be any dependency relationship, he says.
Critical time
The information that TV4 News has produced is based on thousands of leaked emails and has given an insight into Iran’s impact campaigns. Between 2013 and 2015, it was a particularly critical time when the country negotiated with the West about its nuclear program.
Jakob Hallgren does not think it was strange that discussions were held with Iran during that time.
– We are talking about a time between 2013 and 2017 when the entire world community with the United States at the forefront, the EU, all European governments wanted to get a nuclear agreement with Iran. So this was nothing strange that you had a dialogue with Iran then. It may seem strange today, but then it was. These are also talks that have been funded by the British Foreign Ministry, he says.