The National Iranian American Council (NIAC) is an advocacy group that claims to advocate for non-partisan action on behalf of the Iranian-American community in domestic and foreign policy issues. NIAC pushes for a range of policy positions sympathetic to the Islamic Republic of Iran government, including an end to all sanctions on the Iranian regime. It also supports far-left political officials. NIAC advocates through a network of state NIAC chapters, including in Arizona, Chicago, Colorado, Georgia, Iowa, Los Angeles, Massachusetts, New Mexico, and New York; local chapters in San Diego, San Francisco, and Seattle; and a regional chapter in the American Southwest. ¹

NIAC has faced several allegations of improper alignment with the repressive Islamic Republic of Iran’s regime, especially during from an open letter signed by three United States Senators which asked the U.S. Department of Justice to investigate NIAC as an unregistered foreign agent. NIAC has long expressed sympathy towards the Iranian government, encouraging the United States not to respond to the defunct Iranian-backed dictatorship in Syria, even after its regime used chemical weapons against civilians during the Syrian Civil War. NIAC officials have been pictured with Iranian diplomats, and founder and former president Trita Parsi was found to have encouraged the former Iranian ambassador to the United Nations to meet with Democrats in the U.S. Congress. ^{2 3}

In 2008, NIAC filed a defamation lawsuit against a journalist who alleged that NIAC lobbied on behalf of the Iranian government. The lawsuit was dismissed, and in a subsequent countersuit, it was revealed that NIAC withheld and altered information during the legal discovery process, including altering two-thirds of all calendar records for Parsi’s meetings. NIAC was further found by a Federal Appeals Court judge to have withheld over 5,500 emails from its outreach director to various parties. NIAC was ordered to pay the journalist against whom it had originally filed a suit over $180,000. ^{4 3}

NIAC also has a 501(c)(4) political action arm, National Iranian American Council Action (NIAC Action), which lobbies for pro-Iranian policies within the United States, endorses Democratic political candidates for election, and supports measures that decrease election integrity. ^{5 6 7}

Following its initial condemnation of the October 7, 2023 Hamas terror attacks against Israel, NIAC increased its pro-Palestinian activism and its criticism of Israel’s response to the attack. NIAC also used the conflict to increase its defense of Iranian activities in the region. ^{8 9}

In 2025, NIAC opposed the military actions undertaken by Israel and the U.S. against Iran, during which Israel and the U.S. executed missile strikes against Iranian nuclear development facilities. ¹⁰ NIAC organized protests in Washington, D.C. to express its support for the Iranian regime. ¹¹

History

NIAC was founded in 2002 in order to promote political organizing on behalf of the Iranian-American community. ¹² NIAC cites the September 11 terrorist attacks, which occurred just a year before NIAC’s founding, as the moment it “emerged as a leader” on Iranian American issues. ¹²

In 2015, NIAC created NIAC Action, a 501(c)(4) political advocacy group designed to “build political power for Iranian Americans.” ¹² Though NIAC itself is technically nonpartisan, NIAC Action promotes a range of left-of-center policies, notably signing on to an open letter by the left-wing Women’s March to allow for mail-in voting during the COVID-19 pandemic. ¹³ NIAC Action works on issues of diplomacy, immigration policy, and civil rights, while NIAC leads initiatives to educate and engage the Iranian-American community in left-of-center values. ¹³

Domestic Policy Activity

National Iranian American Council leads a series of education campaigns designed to promote left-of-center policy positions. ¹⁴

Gender Champions in Nuclear Policy

In 2019, NIAC president Jamal Abdi joined Gender Champions in Nuclear Policy (GCNP) on behalf of NIAC. ¹⁵ GCNP brings together the heads of various organizations working on nuclear policy who commit to “break down gender barriers” and “make gender equality a working reality.” ¹⁵ GCNP includes members from a range of left-of-center organizations, including the Compton Foundation, the Truman National Security Project, and Physicians for Social Responsibility. ¹⁶

As part of its membership in GCNP, NIAC created the Gender Equity Task Force comprised of NIAC board members and staff, including Yasmin Radjy, who sits as secretary of NIAC Action. She also works as the national political director at Planned Parenthood and the Planned Parenthood Action Fund. ¹⁷

Through the task force, NIAC released a series of “pledges” which apply to both the national organization and local chapters of NIAC. ¹⁵ These include left-of-center policies regarding gender, including a policy that no staff will participate in or organize panels in which all of the participants are men, even at the local level. ¹⁵ NIAC further introduced a policy guaranteeing that at least half of all staff leadership and board positions would be held by women by 2019, and created a set of community guidelines on gender. ¹⁵

NIAC Academies

In 2022, NIAC announced the launching of NIAC Academies, a series of educational policy and advocacy trainings operated by NIAC and its 501(c)(4) political action arm, NIAC Action. Targeted at Iranian-American youth, these academies intend “to build a pipeline for a new generation of Iranian Americans into elected office and careers in public service,” who will advocate for pro-Iranian policies in the United States. ¹⁸

Immigration

NIAC has opposed right-of-center immigration policy, specifically since President Donald Trump, during the First Trump Administration, signed Executive Order 13769 in 2017, followed by two other iterations of the order in the following years. The order banned entry into the United States for 90 days for citizens from seven countries, including Iran, and was branded by political opponents as a “Muslim ban.” ¹⁹ After several legal challenges from the political left, the Supreme Court ruled that the executive order did not violate the United States Constitution. ¹⁹

In September 2019, when the regulation was under consideration in Congress, NIAC offered “experts” to provide media commentary on the first congressional hearing held by the Subcommittee on Immigration and Citizenship. ²⁰ In January 2020, NIAC released an article entitled “How the Trump Administration has Abused the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA) to Ban Muslims from the US.” ²¹ The article claimed that the Supreme Court, in allowing the ban to remain in effect, “ignored a clear track record of discriminatory intent from the President.” ²¹ For the remainder of the article, NIAC endorses the NO BAN Act, a congressional bill which would overturn the travel restrictions and alter the law used by the Supreme Court to uphold it. ²¹ NIAC Action has worked on passing the bill, which has been delayed in the House in light of the COVID-19 pandemic. ^{21 22}

In February 2020, in response to President Trump’s State of the Union Address, NIAC issued a press release again criticizing the travel restrictions. ²³ The release accused President Trump of having “infringed on the rights of Iranian Americans who have been treated as second class citizens” in addition to claiming that the “cruel Muslim Travel Ban…separates Iranian-American families.” ²³ The release ended by claiming that President Trump’s immigration policies are “eroding the foundations of America’s claims to greatness.” ²³

Following the reelection of President Trump in 2024, NIAC expressed its opposition to the incoming Second Trump Administration’s emphasis on enforcing immigration law. In addition to general opposition to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), NIAC has developed an ICE Detentions of Iranian Nationals Community Tracker, a database for individuals to report instances of Iranian nationals being detained or deported by ICE. The tracker had, as of September 2025, tracked 260 instances of the detainment or deportation of Iranian nationals, a practice NIAC strongly opposes. The tracker also lists that approximately 670 Iranian nationals that are in ICE detention, although ICE records do not reflect this number. ²⁴

In September 2025, NIAC issued a press release condemning the Trump administration and ICE for deporting Iranian nationals, claiming an attack on the civil rights of the deportees. The increased deportation of Iranian nationals came after the United States’ brief conflict with Iran, during which it conducted targeted missile strikes against alleged Iranian nuclear development facilities. NIAC President Jamal Abdi argued that the deportees “should not have been ripped from their families by ICE after the war and treated as a terror threat.”  ²⁵

Civil Rights

NIAC works to promote left-of-center civil rights policy, specifically as it pertains to the Iranian American community. NIAC has run a community organizing campaign to remove two officers from the United States Park Police. ²⁶ In November 2017, the officers killed an unarmed Iranian American man, Bijan Ghaisar. ²⁶ The officers were not charged with any crime or removed from the Park Police, and NIAC ran a campaign encouraging supporters to file formal complaints against the officers with the Park Police every day in order to get the officers removed from duty. ²⁶

NIAC has worked with the United States Census Bureau in order to push for a distinction of “Middle East and North African” (MENA) to the census to distinguish those from the aforementioned regions from the designation of “white.” ²⁷ When the Census Bureau denied the request to add a MENA category to the 2020 Census, NIAC came out in strong opposition. ²⁸

Much of NIAC’s work tagged as “civil rights” issues are focused on pursuing the interests of the Iranian state. In June 2018, Nike announced a decision to refuse to supply cleats to the Iranian World Cup soccer team in an effort to oppose Iran’s human rights record. ²⁹ NIAC responded, calling the refusal “shameful” and requesting that the United States government intervene with Nike’s private decision to refuse to provide shoes to the team. ²⁹ NIAC accused Nike of “dragging politics into international sporting events” before blaming the decision on the Trump administration. ²⁹

In December 2018, workplace management software company Slack, in compliance with United States sanctions, deleted the accounts of individuals with IP addresses in countries facing sanctions by the United States, including several Iranian Americans who had recently visited Iran. ³⁰ NIAC responded to the deletion, sending an open letter to Slack CEO Stewart Butterfield, alleging that the “over-enforcement of sanctions causes substantial harm and can be seen as a form of discrimination.” ³¹ Slack immediately apologized, claiming that the deletions were made in error. ³² NIAC responded, promising to “monitor” Slack’s efforts to comply with sanction “with an eye toward impacts on Iranian Americans and Iranian nationals in the United States. ³²

Foreign Policy

Further petitions include supporting left-wing representatives, including U.S. Representative Ilhan Omar (D-MN). One petition calls on supporters to contact their representatives to support the “Congressional Oversight of Sanctions Act,” a bill proposed by Rep. Omar that would mandate congressional oversight of sanctions. The petition alleged that the Trump administration has used sanctions as “a tool to strangle the Iranian people and undermine any path to diplomacy,” despite the fact that sanctions were put in place after Iran violated the nuclear agreement ³³

Further petitions include supporting left-wing representatives, including Representative Ilhan Omar (D-MN). ³⁴ One petition calls on supporters to contact their representatives to support the “Congressional Oversight of Sanctions Act,” a bill proposed by Rep. Omar which would mandate congressional oversight of sanctions. ³⁴ The petition alleges that the Trump administration has used sanctions as “a tool to strangle the Iranian people and undermine any path to diplomacy,” despite the fact that sanctions were put in place after Iran violated the nuclear agreement. ³⁴

NIAC’s petitions espouse anti-Trump rhetoric and frequently expresses sympathy towards Iran. NIAC alleges that President Trump has provoked war with Iran, with one petition encouraging supporters to “Block Trump’s Path to War” by contacting their congressional representatives. ³⁵ The petition goes on to express sympathy for Iran, accusing President Trump of “recklessly” attempting to “assassinate Iranian general Qassem Soleimani,” a man believed responsible for mass violence against Sunni Muslims in Iraq and Syria. ^{35 36} When Iranian officials called for war with the United States, NIAC portrayed them as having “rallied around the flag” in response to President Trump. ³⁵

During the COVID-19 pandemic, NIAC circulated a “Solidarity Not Sanctions” petition, which calls on the United States to end trade sanctions with Iran due to the pandemic. ³⁷ Though the Department of the Treasury had eased some sanctions on Iran in response to the pandemic, NIAC used the petition to push for an end to all sanctions “harming Iran’s economy” under the guise of preventing the spread of coronavirus. ³⁷

Human Rights in Iran

NIAC does report on human rights violations in Iran, specifically regarding the unlawful detentions of left-of-center activists. In February 2018, nine Iranian environmentalists were detained by Iranian authorities and accused of “spying” after performing routine field work, one of whom died in custody. In November 2019, the remaining activists were given prison sentences ranging from four to ten years, over which time reports of torture and maltreatment of the activists have surfaced. In February 2020, NIAC published a press release calling on Iran to uphold human rights after the activists were denied in their appeal ³⁸

In January 2020, the United States House of Representatives passed Resolution 752, a resolution to show support for Iranian demonstrators’ rights to expression, assembly, and protest. NIAC praised the resolution for reaffirming the rights of the Iranian people, and for condemning Iranian officials for their violent suppression of the November 2019 protests which resulted in hundreds of deaths. Nonetheless, the NIAC briefing went on to criticize the United States for its sanctions and immigration policies yet again, alleging that the measures target the Iranian people and “exacerbate their suffering.” ³⁹

Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft

In 2019, billionaire philanthropists George Soros and Charles Koch joined together to launch the Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft, a mostly right-of-center think tank which “promotes ideas that move US foreign policy away from endless war and toward vigorous diplomacy in the pursuit of international peace.” Media outlets described the partnership between the two men as “one of the most remarkable partnerships in modern American political history,” given that Soros is well-known for his left-wing activism, while Koch funds almost exclusively libertarian and right-wing organizations. ⁴⁰

Trita Parsi, the former president of NIAC, was a co-founder of the Quincy Institute and is the executive vice president of the organization. Parsi claimed that the Quincy Institute’s goal would be “to challenge the basis of American foreign policy in a way that has not been done in at least the last quarter-century,” namely by opposing what he called “endless wars.” ^{41 42}

Anti-Israel Advocacy

NIAC opposes Israeli interests and supports the Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank. After the October 7, 2023 Hamas attacks against Israel, NIAC expressed its opposition to the attacks but used the opportunity to advocate for Palestinians. In its statement on X (previously Twitter) NIAC stated its opposition to “war and violence against civilians in all forms,” including against “Israeli[s] and Palestinian[s].” NIAC called on all parties “to prevent further escalation and human rights abuses” and to “pursue an immediate ceasefire.” ⁴³

Despite continued Iranian and Hezbollah attacks on Israeli civilians, NIAC has demanded that the United States not allow the Middle Eastern conflict to escalate. NIAC has opposed U.S. military aid to Israel and called for a boycott of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s speech to the U.S. Congress in July 2024. Following an Israeli strike that killed Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh, NIAC condemned the strike as an escalation of the conflict that would inhibit a quick ceasefire agreement. NIAC has also justified Iranian attacks in support of Hamas against Israel, claiming that Iran needed to retaliate to protect its sovereignty in the region. According to an Endowment for Middle East Truth report, after an Iran-affiliated militia killed three U.S. service members in January 2024, NIAC expressed a concern about regional escalation without condemning the attack. ^{9 44}

Allegations of Alignment with Iranian Regime

2020 Congressional Letter

On January 13, 2020, U.S. Senators Tom Cotton (R-AR), Mike Braun (R-IN), and Ted Cruz (R-TX) sent a letter to Trump administration U.S. Attorney General William Barr which urged the U.S. Department of Justice to investigate the National Iranian American Council and NIAC Action for “potential violations of the Foreign Agents Registration Act.” ⁴⁵

The letter alleged that NIAC spreads propaganda and lobbies on the behalf of the Iranian government. The Senators cited incidents of NIAC supporting Iranian-backed conspiracy theories, including those that deflected blame from the Iranian regime after missiles fired by Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps batteries shot down Ukrainian International Airlines Flight 752, killing 176. NIAC further circulated an email memorandum in December 2019 which blamed the United States government for attacks carried out by Iranian-backed militia forces on United States forces in Iraq and the American embassy in Baghdad. ⁴⁵

The letter also drew attention to a 2008 defamation lawsuit filed by NIAC, in which it was revealed that NIAC founder Trita Parsi had arranged meetings between members of Congress and Javad Zarif, Iran’s former ambassador to the United Nations and later foreign minister. ⁴⁵ When former FBI associate deputy director Oliver Revell reviewed the information, he claimed that such activity would require NIAC to register as an agent of Iran, while former FBI counterintelligence official Kenneth Piernick encouraged counterintelligence forces to look into NIAC further. ⁴⁵ During the discovery process for the same lawsuit, former NIAC policy director Patrick Disney admitted that he and NIAC’s legislative director spent more than 20% of their time on lobbying, and wrote that he  himself believed “we fall under this definition of ‘lobbyist.’”⁴⁵

In response to the letter, NIAC issued a public statement which alleged that the accusations were “slanderous,” “disgusting,” and “dangerous” and calling the letter an attempt by “warhawks” to “intimidate pro-peace voices.” ⁴⁶ Several left-of-center and left-wing organizations signed onto the letter, including MoveOn, Peace Action, and the US Campaign for Palestinian Rights, but there has been no public investigation as of 2025. ⁴⁷

Sympathy towards the Iranian Regime

NIAC has long been accused of sympathy towards the Iranian regime, known for its brutal human rights record. In 2015, when Iran-backed forces were perpetrating war crimes in Syria, NIAC excused the actions of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, claiming the actions of the regime’s ruthless armed wing was justified in light of “Iran’s core national security interests.” ^{48 49}

NIAC’s excusal of Iran’s actions in Syria followed a mass media campaign to absolve Bashar Assad, the Iran-backed dictator of Syria, of his guilt for employing chemical weapons against civilians. ⁵⁰ NIAC released a statement arguing that the United States should not take action against Assad in response to the use of chemical weapons against his people, claiming that any retaliation against Syria would damage the Obama administration’s nuclear deal with Iran. ⁵⁰ Rather than encouraging the US to fight back against chemical warfare unleashed upon civilians, NIAC leveraged the situation to argue that the United States should lessen sanctions on Iran in order to push a “diplomatic” agenda. ⁵¹

In the course of a 2009 defamation lawsuit filed by NIAC against critics, court documents revealed that NIAC used the George W. Bush administration’s Iran Democracy Fund–originally intended to promote democratic elections in Iran–to influence the Obama administration’s nuclear policy toward Iran. ⁵² Critics called for the end of the fund, arguing that it provided pro-Iranian lobbyists like NIAC privileged access to influencing official U.S. policy. ⁵³

The campaign pushed the narrative that any retaliation against Syria for its use of chemical weapons would “trigger retaliation and a bloodier and wider war,” a reality which has not come to fruition in the wake of joint U.S.-European airstrikes against Assad. ⁵⁴ When the United States intervened with Assad and began strategic air strikes in Syria, NIAC repeated this narrative and claimed that “there is no moral high ground for those who respond to abhorrent violence with more violence.” ⁵⁴

NIAC’s history with the Assad regime dates back to 2002, when Congress first considered the imposition of sanctions on Syria for Assad’s support of terrorist groups and development of biological and chemical weapons. ⁵⁵ NIAC officials questioned the legitimacy of the threats and attempted to claim that imposing sanctions on Syria was actually a way of targeting Iran, even after Assad’s control over weapons of mass destruction had been confirmed by the United Nations. ^{54 56}

Despite Iran’s track record of radicalism, NIAC defended the Iranian regime against what it called “hostile rhetoric” from then-presidential candidate Hillary Clinton (D) in 2015. During that year’s first Democratic Presidential debate, Clinton claimed that the Iranians were an enemy that she was proud to oppose. In response, NIAC president Jamal Abdi released a statement condemning Clinton’s rhetoric and pressuring her to be more supportive of the Iranian regime. He blamed tension and past conflict between the United States and Iran, not on Iran’s radicalism, but on the rhetoric of American politicians. Abdi urged Clinton to pursue diplomacy with Iran so the two countries can become “future friends.” ⁵⁷

According to a 2024 report from the Endowment for Middle East Truth, NIAC spent most of its time during the Biden administration advancing pro-Iranian policy goals and gaining assurances from the administration that favored Iran. For example, in 2021, NIAC ensured a commitment from the Biden administration to end the Trump travel ban. In 2022, NIAC and NIAC Action opened policy and political action training groups called NIAC Academies to train Iranian American leaders on navigating pro-Iranian advocacy in America. In 2023, NIAC also advocated for Texas state senators to block Texas Senate Bill 147, which restricted land purchases by citizens of countries openly hostile to American interests. NIAC also advocated for the U.S. Census Bureau to include Iranian Americans as a subcategory of the Middle East and North African (MENA) primary racial category. ^{9 18}

In 2023, the Hoover Institution published an article exposing what it referred to as the “the Iranian Regime’s (De facto) Lobby in the West.” The piece described NIAC’s central role in the network of American academic and research entities that advocate on behalf of the Iranian regime in the West. The article argues that, despite allegations that NIAC was founded with direct support from Iran, the group exercised considerable influence over the Obama administration and its formation of the Iran Nuclear Deal, as top administration official Ben Rhodes delivered speeches at NIAC events while serving in the administration. The Hoover article argued that NIAC and similar pro-Iran institutions exist to portray the Iranian regime positively, to act as a mouthpiece for Iran’s talking points in American political discourse, and to discredit those who speak out against Iran. ⁵⁸

2025 U.S.-Iran Conflict

In June 2025, NIAC released a statement condemning Israel and the United States for striking Iranian nuclear facilities. The statement claimed that “Benjamin Netanyahu got his wish: he pulled the U.S. into Israel’s reckless and illegal war against Iran,” blaming only Israel and the U.S. for escalating the war. NIAC stated, “[o]ur hearts are with everyone in Iran who has been impacted by this horrific war already.” ¹⁰

NIAC had published a statement before U.S. involvement in the war with Iran, citing a national poll that showed support for American conflict with Iran was low. ⁵⁹

A June 2025 Middle East Forum (MEF) op-ed suggested that in the wake of the U.S.-Iran war, NIAC’s credibility and popularity were waning. The piece cites low attendance at a NIAC pro-Iran rally in Washington, D.C. following Israeli and U.S. strikes against Iran as evidence that the once influential NIAC was losing support. ⁶⁰ In July 2025, NIAC continued to organize “No War With Iran” protests in Washington, D.C. with support from the ANSWER Coalition and the a Manassas mosque. ¹¹

In August 2025, NIAC criticized France, Germany, and the United Kingdom, which, following the U.S. and Israeli strikes against Iran, imposed snapback sanctions on Iran and restored six prior United Nations Security Council resolutions targeting Iran related to Iran’s nuclear development program. Again, NIAC blamed the United States for provoking increased hostilities with Iran. ⁶¹

In September 2025, NIAC celebrated the agreement between Iran and the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) to resume nuclear inspections at Iranian nuclear facilities. NIAC blamed Israel and the United States for escalating the conflict by attacking Iranian facilities and suggested that regular IAEA inspections could be a step forward in reducing tension between nations. ⁶²

Protest against NIAC

On July 19, 2019, Iranian Americans gathered in front of NIAC’s Washington, D.C. headquarters to protest the organization as a front for the Iranian regime. ⁶³ A statement read aloud by protest leaders alleged that NIAC is “the representative of the corrupt and brutal Islamic Republic regime,” and the protestors stated that they were demonstrating in order to inform US policymakers that “NIAC does not represent the Iranian community in the United States and that it does not reflect the real hopes of the people living in Iran.” ⁶³

NIAC has repeatedly denied these allegations, asserting that it is nonpartisan and that it does not lobby on behalf of Iran. ⁶³ Nonetheless, NIAC supporters and officials have been photographed with Iranian public officials and expressed support for regime sympathizers whose then-Twitter accounts were suspended. ⁶⁴

National Iranian American Council Action

National Iranian American Council Action was formed in 2015 and is the electoral and lobbying arm of the National Iranian American Council. It pursues a wide range of left-of-center policies, specifically in immigration and foreign policy regarding US-Iran relations. The action group has also supported several Democratic candidates for political office. Following the COVID-19 pandemic, NIAC Action also joined a coalition of left-wing organizations led by the Women’s March in order to advocate for vote-by-mail in the November 2020 elections. ⁵

Immigration Policy

NIAC Action opposes efforts to enforce U.S. immigration law at the southern border. The group joined with other left-of-center organizations to oppose the first Trump administration’s proposal to increase vetting efforts for individuals applying for American visas from countries deemed to pose a security threat to the United States. In 2019, NIAC Action joined a coalition of more than 200 left-wing organizations calling on the U.S. Congress to cut funding for the U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS) border enforcement programs. The coalition also advocated for Congress to cut funding for Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Customs and Border Protection (CBP). ^{65 66}

Pro-Iran Foreign Policy

NIAC Action supports ending of all sanctions against Iran. In 2020, NIAC Action supported the Congressional Oversight of Sanctions Act, a bill proposed by left-wing U.S. Representative Ilhan Omar (D-MN) which would give Congress authority over sanctions. NIAC Action has blamed President Donald Trump’s administration for using sanctions to “strangle the Iranian people.” ⁶⁷

In 2015, NIAC and NIAC Action even lobbied Congress to lift a ban on Iranian arms trade, claiming that arming Iran would increase regional stability. Critics argued that arming Iran–a regime with a history of radicalism and terrorism–would do just the opposite. ⁶⁸

Vote-by-Mail Initiative

In April 2020, NIAC Action joined a left-wing coalition led by members of the Women’s March calling for universal vote-by-mail for the 2020 presidential election. NIAC Action argued that any opposition to the campaign was an act of voter suppression. ⁷

Endorsement of Democratic Candidates

NIAC Action has a history of celebrating the election of Democratic candidates to political office, which the group has claimed is a check on President Trump and his anti-Muslim immigration policies. Candidates whom NIAC Action has endorsed include United States Representatives Ilhan Omar (D-MN) and Rashida Tlaib (D-MI). The group also supported United States Senator Elizabeth Warren’s (D-MA) 2020 bid for the presidency after Warren expressed her desire to return to the Iran Nuclear Deal. ^{69 6 70 71}

Pro-Palestinian Advocacy

Following the October 7, 2023 Hamas terrorist attack against Israel, NIAC Action has expressed support for Palestinians against what it considers “Israel’s genocide against Palestinians in Gaza.” In a September 2025 press release, NIAC Action expressed its support for H.R. 3565, the Block the Bombs Act, which was introduced by U.S. Representative Delia Ramirez (D-IL). The proposed bill would stop the transfer of weapons to Israel as long as Israel is, according to NIAC Action, “violating both U.S. and international humanitarian law” in Gaza. ⁷²

Opposition to Military Conflict with Iran

In August 2025, NIAC Action Executive Director Jamal Abdi authored an opinion editorial in The Hill arguing against an American war with Iran. Abdi claimed that most Iranian-Americans oppose war with and sanctions against Iran. He also criticized Israel’s June 12, 2025 bombing campaign against Iran, claiming that the attack killed mostly civilians. The piece also criticized President Trump’s threats against the Iranian regime made over social media. ⁷³

Daioleslam Lawsuit

In 2008, the National Iranian American Council filed a lawsuit against Iranian American blogger Hassan Daioleslam, alleging that he had defamed NIAC. Daioleslam had written that NIAC had advocated on behalf of the Iranian government as a lobbyist. In 2012, the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia found that the work of NIAC founder and then-president Trita Parsi was “not inconsistent with the idea that he was first and foremost an advocate for the regime,” holding that the accusations were not defamatory. The lawsuit was then dismissed. ⁷⁴

After the case was dismissed, Daioleslam filed a motion for sanctions in order to recoup the costs of the discovery process brought on by the NIAC lawsuit, arguing that NIAC had delayed cooperating with court orders and as a result, had driven up the costs of his legal defense. ⁷⁴

Federal Appeals Court Judge Robert Wilkins, who had been appointed to the bench by President Barack Obama, ruled in February 2015 that NIAC had “flouted multiple court orders” and improperly delayed its delivery of documents to Daioleslam, including the withholding of certain critical documents. ⁷⁴ These included member lists, internal emails, meeting schedules, and other documents deemed relevant to the court. ⁷⁴

Most notably, NIAC refused to turn over its calendar records, which were critical to proving Daioleslam’s claim that NIAC leaders had met with Iranian officials. ⁷⁴ Once those records were turned over, after ten months, Judge Wilkins found that they were “incomplete” and that “NIAC produced no calendar entries from before 2009.” ⁷⁴ Wilkins further found that, “Of the entries it produced, 78 had been altered shortly before production, including two-thirds of those in Parsi’s calendar.” ⁷⁴ NIAC also hid the existence of four of its computers, and misrepresented the use of those computers as “intern” computers when, in actuality, they had been used by the legislative director and outreach director of NIAC. ⁷⁴ NIAC also withheld over 5,000 emails sent by NIAC’s outreach director. ⁷⁴

Judge Wilkins called the behavior “inexcusable,” and NIAC was ordered to pay $183,480.09 to Daioleslam. ⁷⁴

Leadership

President

Jamal Abdi is the president of the National Iranian American Council, a role he assumed in August 2018. He joined NIAC as a policy director in November 2009, overseeing NIAC’s efforts to monitor and advocate for pro-Iranian-American policies and legislation. Abdi is also the executive director of National Iranian American Council Action, the group’s sister organization and political action group. He previously worked in the United States Congress as a policy advisor on foreign policy, national security, and immigration issues. Prior to working in Washington, D.C., Abdi was active in state-level politics in his home state of Washington as a field organizer for U.S. Congressional elections, managing campaign efforts in Seattle and Bellevue. ⁷⁵

Abdi has written for The New York Times, CNN, Foreign Policy, The Hill, and USA Today, and he maintains a blog at HuffPost.  He is a frequent guest contributor across major media organizations, including regular television and radio appearances on Al Jazeera, NPR, BBC Radio, and Voice of America. ⁷⁵

As of 2025, NIAC’s former president and founder Trita Parsi works at the Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft, a think tank which has received from billionaire George Soros and libertarian donor Charles Koch. ^{76 77}

During his time with NIAC, Parsi was frequently accused of lobbying on behalf of the Iranian government, including by left-of-center publication The Atlantic. ⁷⁸ Law enforcement experts who reviewed emails between Parsi and Iran’s former United Nations Ambassador Javad Zarif claimed that the documents “offer evidence that the group has operated as an undeclared lobby and may be guilty of violating tax laws, the Foreign Agents Registration Act and lobbying disclosure laws.” ⁷⁸ Parsi also suggested in a 2006 email to Zarif that he meet with members of Congress. ⁷⁸ Parsi is not publicly known to be a United States citizen; it is reported that he holds only Iranian and Swedish passports. ⁷⁸ Mohsen Makhmalbaf, a famed Iranian filmmaker who has functioned as an unofficial mouthpiece for Iran’s opposition “Green Movement,” said in an interview that “Trita Parsi does not belong to the Green Movement. I feel his lobbying has secretly been more for the Islamic Republic.” ⁷⁸

Board of Directors

The NIAC board of directors includes Payman Jarrahy, an OB/GYN specializing in high-risk pregnancy and pelvic laparoscopic surgery. He received a bachelor’s degree from New York University where he studied chemistry and philosophy before completing advanced science studies at Universite de Lille, France. Jarrahy received his medical degree from New York Medical College. ⁷⁹

Kombiz Lavasany sits on NIAC’s board of directors. An immigrant from Tehran, he is a policy consultant at the American Federation of Teachers (AFT). Before joining AFT, Lavasany worked as a consultant for New Partners and previously worked at the Democratic National Committee where he helped coordinate party efforts to help elect President Barack Obama. Lavasany received his bachelor’s degree in political science from the University of California, San Diego in 2001. ⁸⁰

Parisa Babaali sits on the board of directors at NIAC. She is a senior artificial intelligence engineer at IBM. Before joining NAIC’s board of directors, Babaali helped lead NIAC’s New York State chapter. She received her Bachelor’s degree from Sharif University and a Ph.D. in mathematics from the Steven Institute of Technology. Babaali has previously served as a professor of mathematics and computer sciences at the City University of New York (CUNY). ⁸¹

Siobhan Coley-Amin, an attorney at the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), also sits on NIAC’s board of directors. ⁸²

Community Council

John Limbert is a member of NIAC’s Community Council. He spent most of his career in diplomacy, serving mostly in the Middle East and Islamic Africa–including two tours in Iraq. He was the U.S. Ambassador to the Islamic Republic of Mauritania and also served as Deputy Assistant Secretary of State responsible for Iranian affairs. He was among the last American diplomats to serve in Iran, where he was held hostage in 1979-81. Limbert formerly taught at the university and high school levels in Iran. He is a former professor of Middle Eastern Studies at the U.S. Naval Academy. ⁸³

Finances

In 2022, the National Iranian American Council reported $1,135,971 in total revenue, $1,284,993 in total expenses, and $335,139 in total assets. ⁸⁴ NIAC receives donations and grants from various individuals and American nonprofit foundations, including the left-of-center Ploughshares Fund, the anti-Israel Rockefeller Brothers Fund, and the George Soros-led Open Society Foundations. The Rockefeller Brother’s Fund has donated a total of $225,000 to NIAC since 2020. ^{85 86} NIAC has also received notable donations from Borealis Philanthropy, the Proteus Fund, the Urgent Actions Fund for Feminist Activism, the Hopewell Fund, the Solidaire Network, and several others. ^{87 88 89 90 91}

In 2022, NIAC’s political action group, National Iranian American Council      Action reported $216,488 in total revenue, $282,566 in total expenses, and $265,184 in total assets. ⁹²

According to a New York Post exclusive from 2023, George Soros and his Open Society Foundations had poured over $50 million into what the article refers to as “Iran sympathizer groups.” From 2019 through 2023, Soros’ network had donated $100,000 to the NIAC and over $1.8 million to NIAC founder Trita Parsi’s new think tank, the Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft. ⁹³

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29. “Iran’s World Cup Team Should Be Treated Fairly.” NIAC, June 6, 2018. https://www.niacouncil.org/press_room/irans-world-cup-team-treated-fairly/.
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38. Rad, Assal. “Iran Court Upholds Cruel Sentences for Iranian Environmentalists.” NIAC, February 18, 2020. https://www.niacouncil.org/human_rights_tracker/iran-court-upholds-cruel-sentences-iranian-environmentalists/.
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