{"id":11886,"date":"2025-07-14T19:40:23","date_gmt":"2025-07-14T11:40:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/tingchao.xyz\/?p=11886"},"modified":"2025-07-14T19:40:27","modified_gmt":"2025-07-14T11:40:27","slug":"radical-pro%e2%80%91tehran-groups-orchestrated-the-no-war-on-iran-protests","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/tingchao.xyz\/?p=11886","title":{"rendered":"Radical pro\u2011Tehran groups orchestrated the \u2018No War on Iran\u2019 protests"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image alignwide size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"800\" height=\"452\" src=\"https:\/\/tingchao.xyz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/1-16.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-11887\" srcset=\"https:\/\/tingchao.xyz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/1-16.jpg 800w, https:\/\/tingchao.xyz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/1-16-300x170.jpg 300w, https:\/\/tingchao.xyz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/1-16-768x434.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>In late June, when the U.S. executed its Operation Midnight Hammer strikes to prevent Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons, the widespread outcry in support of Tehran wasn\u2019t organic.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>It was stoked by three radical organizations deeply connected to foreign regimes: the National Iranian-American Council or NIAC, the ANSWER Coalition, and \u2014 in the case of the protest in Washington, D.C. \u2014 the Manassas Mosque. These groups provided logistical, financial, and messaging support for protests that echoed the ideological lines of Iran\u2019s regime.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Sadly, this is part of a broader trend where our adversaries use our processes and freedoms against us to recruit advocates and make their governments\u2019 propaganda seem like organic and homegrown outrage among Americans.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>NIAC bills itself as a bridge between Iranian Americans and U.S. policymakers. But its record tells a different story. The Hoover Institution has labeled it \u201cthe Iranian regime\u2019s (de facto) lobby in the West,\u201d noting that NIAC was allegedly created with input from Iran\u2019s then-Foreign Minister Javad Zarif, with an agenda of normalizing U.S.-Iran ties under the guise of business and diplomacy, while ignoring human rights abuses.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In 2020, Sens. Tom Cotton (R-Ark.), Mike Braun (R-Ind.), and Ted Cruz (R-Texas) demanded a Department of Justice probe into NIAC and its affiliate NIAC Action for potential Foreign Agents Registration Act violations, citing its consistent echoing of Tehran\u2019s propaganda. NIAC has long evaded serious scrutiny, but during Operation Midnight Hammer, its priorities became evident.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Steve Bannon calls on Trump to appoint special prosecutor to release Epstein files | RISING<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>On June 28 it helped promote the \u201cNational March on Washington\u201d by partnering with the ANSWER Coalition and others in a nationwide call for protests to \u201cStop the War on Iran.\u201d These weren\u2019t spontaneous expressions of American public opinion \u2014 they followed a script drafted in Tehran. NIAC\u2019s half-century of coordinated messaging with regime interests suggests these protests were orchestrated, not organic.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The ANSWER Coalition has also proven itself a stunning vector for foreign interference in U.S. protest culture. Although it once focused on anti-war messaging going back as far as 9\/11, ANSWER has since become a conduit for authoritarian propaganda, pushing pro-China, anti-Israel, and pro-Iran narratives.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The group is funded by tech millionaire Neville Singham, a self-described Maoist. According to recently declassified House Oversight findings and the New York Times, Singham channeled at least $1.8 million into media outlets and activism aligned with Chinese Communist Party talking points. ANSWER has also worked on large anti-Israel demonstrations in sync with American Muslims for Palestine and Students for Justice in Palestine, organizations that Congress has connected to Hamas and Iran.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>When Operation Midnight Hammer kicked off, ANSWER activists spread signs, hired transport, and amplified calls to end U.S. actions \u201cagainst Iran,\u201d all in perfect alignment with Tehran\u2019s strategic narrative. This is not civil dissent; it is foreign-backed ideological warfare being waged on American soil.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Meanwhile, in Northern Virginia, the Manassas Mosque, under Imam Abolfazl Bahram Nahidian, has operated as a domestic hub for extremist ideology. The mosque has Iranian financing, having received almost $200,000 from the Alavi Foundation, a known regime front, in the early 2000s. The inside of the mosque itself is adorned with the \u201cmartyrs\u201d of Iran\u2019s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, life\u2011sized cutouts of Ayatollah Khomeini, and flags of the Islamic Republic of Iran.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Daoud Salahuddin, who assassinated an anti-regime former Iranian diplomat in 1980, lived with and worked for Imam Nahidian, had been recruited by Nahidian into pro-Khomeini activism, and had spent time at an Iranian student center run by Nahidian, which was used as a staging ground for pro-Khomeini demonstrations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In the run-up to Operation Midnight Hammer, the mosque collaborated on flyers for \u201cHands Off Iran\u201d protests in the Washington, D.C. area, including events outside the White House. These weren\u2019t fringe events; they were extensions of the Iranian regime\u2019s ideological apparatus, staged under the banner of religious assembly and disguised as grassroots activism.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The pro-Iran crowd may wear the language of civil outrage, but foreign connections tell the real story. It\u2019s time for Congress, watchdog agencies, and civil society to reclassify such demonstrations as orchestrated foreign interference operations and respond accordingly. National security isn\u2019t just about missile sites and uranium centrifuges; it\u2019s also about protecting our democratic process from the enemies who would hijack it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The American people, who are influenced by media figures such as Tucker Carlson (who recently gave a friendly interview to Iran\u2019s president), deserve to know how much foreign money is being spread around to change Americans\u2019 minds. When groups like NIAC, ANSWER, and the Manassas Mosque claim the mantle of pro-democracy advocacy, it\u2019s a betrayal not only of truth but of national security.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The American people deserve honest discourse, not manufactured consent. In this moment, when Iran looms as a genocidal menace vowing to \u201cwipe Israel off the map,\u201d we must call out these campaigns for what they are: foreign-controlled influence efforts seeping into our policymaking and streets.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>In late June, when the U.S. executed its Operation Midnight Hammer strikes to prevent Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons, the widespread outcry in support of Tehran wasn\u2019t organic. It was stoked by three radical organizations deeply connected to foreign regimes: the National Iranian-American Council or NIAC, the ANSWER Coalition, and \u2014 in the case of [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":11887,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[1790,1611,3478],"class_list":["post-11886","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-international","tag-iran","tag-its","tag-niac"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v19.0 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Radical pro\u2011Tehran groups orchestrated the \u2018No War on Iran\u2019 protests - LISTEN WORLD<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/tingchao.xyz\/?p=11886\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Radical pro\u2011Tehran groups orchestrated the \u2018No War on Iran\u2019 protests - LISTEN WORLD\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"In late June, when the U.S. executed its Operation Midnight Hammer strikes to prevent Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons, the widespread outcry in support of Tehran wasn\u2019t organic. It was stoked by three radical organizations deeply connected to foreign regimes: the National Iranian-American Council or NIAC, the ANSWER Coalition, and \u2014 in the case of [&hellip;]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/tingchao.xyz\/?p=11886\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"LISTEN WORLD\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2025-07-14T11:40:23+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2025-07-14T11:40:27+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/tingchao.xyz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/1-16.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"800\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"452\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Darcy\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/tingchao.xyz\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/tingchao.xyz\/\",\"name\":\"LISTEN WORLD\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/tingchao.xyz\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/tingchao.xyz\/?p=11886#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/tingchao.xyz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/1-16.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/tingchao.xyz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/1-16.jpg\",\"width\":800,\"height\":452},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/tingchao.xyz\/?p=11886#webpage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/tingchao.xyz\/?p=11886\",\"name\":\"Radical pro\u2011Tehran groups orchestrated the \u2018No War on Iran\u2019 protests - LISTEN WORLD\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/tingchao.xyz\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/tingchao.xyz\/?p=11886#primaryimage\"},\"datePublished\":\"2025-07-14T11:40:23+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-07-14T11:40:27+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/tingchao.xyz\/#\/schema\/person\/1162f45aa51c894eefc48fd30308af4a\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/tingchao.xyz\/?p=11886#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/tingchao.xyz\/?p=11886\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/tingchao.xyz\/?p=11886#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"\u9996\u9875\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/tingchao.xyz\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Radical pro\u2011Tehran groups orchestrated the \u2018No War on Iran\u2019 protests\"}]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/tingchao.xyz\/#\/schema\/person\/1162f45aa51c894eefc48fd30308af4a\",\"name\":\"Darcy\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/tingchao.xyz\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/7537ee6b8d37bad39b4bef536dfdfbabb0d66d9d304b0d853fc389e9f7bc082f?s=96&d=wavatar&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/7537ee6b8d37bad39b4bef536dfdfbabb0d66d9d304b0d853fc389e9f7bc082f?s=96&d=wavatar&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Darcy\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/tingchao.xyz\/?author=6\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Radical pro\u2011Tehran groups orchestrated the \u2018No War on Iran\u2019 protests - LISTEN WORLD","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/tingchao.xyz\/?p=11886","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Radical pro\u2011Tehran groups orchestrated the \u2018No War on Iran\u2019 protests - LISTEN WORLD","og_description":"In late June, when the U.S. executed its Operation Midnight Hammer strikes to prevent Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons, the widespread outcry in support of Tehran wasn\u2019t organic. 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