Former Trump Officials Warn About Iran Influence In US

Former top US national security officials are asking the government to revoke security clearances for officials with “ties or sympathy for” the Iranian regime.

Semafor reported on Wednesday that senior Trump administration officials signed a statement saying, “As former senior officials in the United States Government we are very alarmed by the information contained in recent articles regarding Iranian influence operations targeting American citizens, especially US Government employees.”

Among the former officials are Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, National Security Advisor Robert O’Brien, Pentagon chief Christopher Miller, and Director of National Intelligence John Ratcliff.

The concern over potential security issues for the US government emerged when in September Iran International published a report based on a joint investigation with Semafor showing that several individuals close to, or part of the Obama and Biden administrations were acting as members of an Iranian government influence network in the United States.

“We are jointly speaking out in this unprecedented manner because of the clear and present danger Iran and its covert operations of many types, including its influence operations, pose to U.S. National Security,” the statement said.

The disclosure of an Iranian influence network has reverberated in the US Congress where many lawmakers have demanded answers from the Biden administration. In April, the security clearance of President Joe Biden’s Iran envoy Robert Malley was suspended, and he left the State Department, without being formally ousted from his position. Malley is under investigation for alleged mishandling of classified material.

Biden’s Iran policy has come under increasing scrutiny as his administration has failed to rigorously enforce US sanctions and in August agreed to release $6 billion of frozen Iranian funds.