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Targeting Iran’s Agents of Influence
Funeral ceremony for former Hezbollah leaders Hassan Nasrallah and Hashem Safieddine, outskirts of Beirut, Feb. 23, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Thaier Al-Sudani
JNS.org – The sight of Israeli fighter jets flying low and loud over the funeral in Beirut last month of the eliminated Hezbollah terrorist chieftain Hassan Nasrallah was certainly gratifying. But I’ll wager that I’m not the only observer who wishes that the Israeli pilots had actually dropped a few bombs on the whole wretched spectacle.
Among the thousands of Hezbollah supporters in attendance were a few dozen activists from Western countries, some of whom were questioned by their respective police forces upon their return. According to a list compiled by the Middle East Media Research Institute, their number included Canadian passport holders Charlotte Kates and Khaled Barakat of the now-proscribed terrorist organization Samidoun, which raises support for the motley crew of Palestinian rapists and murderers held in Israeli jails; Irish activists Tadhg Hickey and Tara O’Grady, two leading lights of their country’s influential antisemitic, pro-Hamas lobby; and the heads of the ultra-Stalinist, deeply antisemitic American Communist Party in the form of Jackson Hinkle and Christopher Helali.
Since Israel demurred from getting rid of these people when it had the chance (perhaps prudently), it falls to law-enforcement agencies in their own countries to deal with them. And by that, I mean isolating them completely from the public square and, if necessary, imprisoning them as accessories of a terrorist organization whose bloody global imprint extends from Bulgaria to Argentina to other lands where Hezbollah has carried out violent attacks at the behest of its Iranian paymasters.
I want to focus on the British presence at Nasrallah’s funeral because last week the British government unveiled an important new measure to combat Iranian influence. While the measure regrettably falls short of classifying the Tehran regime’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) as a terrorist organization, it does elevate Iran and its British assets to the highest tier of the UK’s Foreign Influence Registration Scheme. Anyone acting on Iran’s behalf will be deemed a security threat and therefore obliged to register with the scheme. Failure to do so will incur a prison sentence of up to five years.
That brings into the frame some of the worst enemies of the British Jewish community, like the former Parliament members George Galloway and Chris Williamson. Having been turfed out of the ruling Labour Party, the two men now lead what is functionally a national socialist organization calling itself the Workers Party of Britain. Both are regular contributors to the Iranian state propaganda outlet Press TV—a wholly owned subsidiary of Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting (IRIB)—where Williamson anchors a sinister discussion show pushing antisemitic conspiracy theories titled “Palestine Declassified.”
His sidekick on the show is a failed Scottish academic named David Miller, who was fired from the University of Bristol over his continued harassment of Jewish students. It’s easy to dismiss Miller as the clown who sent the distinguished historian Simon Sebag-Montefiore, the author of a recent book on Jerusalem, a page from Wikipedia intended to counter his argument about Jewish indigeneity, accompanied by an “Aha! Gotcha!” post on X. Sadly, there are those who take Miller seriously and listen to his arguments, which become more screechingly antisemitic with every post, every broadcast appearance and every article.
One of Miller’s obsessions is the contention that Jewish anti-Zionists are really Zionists. He asks preposterously, “[H]ow many Jewish martyrs have there been in the past 140 on the path to liberate Palestine from Zionism? How many Jews have engaged in military action against Zionist targets in that period?” Another is his repeated characterization of the Chabad-Lubavitch religious movement, which is regarded with affection by observant and non-observant Jews alike, as a “genocidal cult.” Moreover, Miller’s adoration of the Palestinians and their murderous cause is mirrored by his contempt for genuinely persecuted populations, like the Kurds, whom he denies constitute a nationality, and the Ukrainians, whose plight under constant Russian bombardment elicits a teenage cheerleader’s enthusiasm from him.
Miller also attended Nasrallah’s funeral, posing as a “journalist,” and was duly questioned by the British police on his return from Beirut. His actual reportage was limited to fawning posts on X and appearances on Press TV because it’s pretty much the only broadcaster willing to platform his ravings.
The new rules in the United Kingdom will, it is to be hoped, remove the veneer of “independence” shrouding Miller and his co-thinkers—who include Asa Winstanley, an antisemitic propagandist for the U.S. outlet “Electronic Intifada”—and reveal them for what they are: assets of the Iranian mullahs. They also provide a road map for further moves to curb both Iran’s propaganda agents and hired thugs, like the two Romanians who one year ago stabbed an Iranian opposition journalist outside his home in London, who carry out the regime’s orders on foreign soil.
But if any of that is to happen, then the British government must follow through on enforcement. If Miller fails to register as an Iranian agent, then he should be arrested and charged accordingly. Even without incarceration, there is a case to be made for shuttering his channels of communication, such as his website and his social-media presence, with the outside world. Free speech does not extend to treason and never has, including in the United States, where the First Amendment affords protections that don’t exist in Europe. Nor does it include incitement to violence. When Miller talks about “liquidating” or “dismantling” Zionism, as he does frequently, one has to remember that his Iranian sponsors regard that phrase as a license for terrorist actions against Jewish targets around the world.
Ultimately, the United Kingdom has to decide whether it will tolerate Iranian state media outlets exploiting their presence as “journalists” to spread misinformation and propaganda on behalf of Tehran. Press TV operated a London office for nearly 15 years before dissolving as a limited company under British law in 2021, according to the country’s own records. Yet it still operates a studio there, where Williamson and Miller record their programming. Press TV’s broadcasts are still available on some cable networks or through an app that can be freely downloaded. As an enemy broadcaster and one designated by the U.S. Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC), Press TV should be blocked online and removed from all social-media platforms, including X, which is owned by the same individual, Elon Musk, tasked with flushing out the U.S. government’s bureaucracy.
Such inconsistencies are harmful to us and readily exploited by them. As we deliberate whether we are technically at war with Iran, Iran eagerly wages war on us through its media channels, its regional proxies, and through—as the two aerial attacks on Israel last year demonstrated—its own armed forces. Our response must be sharp and merciless at all levels.
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Iran, US Task Experts to Design Framework for a Nuclear Deal, Tehran Says
Atomic symbol and USA and Iranian flags are seen in this illustration taken, September 8, 2022. Photo: REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration/File Photo
Iran and the United States agreed on Saturday to task experts to start drawing up a framework for a potential nuclear deal, Iran’s foreign minister said, after a second round of talks following President Donald Trump’s threat of military action.
At their second indirect meeting in a week, Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi negotiated for almost four hours in Rome with Trump’s Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff, through an Omani official who shuttled messages between them.
Trump, who abandoned a 2015 nuclear pact between Tehran and world powers during his first term in 2018, has threatened to attack Iran unless it reaches a new deal swiftly that would prevent it from developing a nuclear weapon.
Iran, which says its nuclear program is peaceful, says it is willing to discuss limited curbs to its atomic work in return for lifting international sanctions.
Speaking on state TV after the talks, Araqchi described them as useful and conducted in a constructive atmosphere.
“We were able to make some progress on a number of principles and goals, and ultimately reached a better understanding,” he said.
“It was agreed that negotiations will continue and move into the next phase, in which expert-level meetings will begin on Wednesday in Oman. The experts will have the opportunity to start designing a framework for an agreement.”
The top negotiators would meet again in Oman next Saturday to “review the experts’ work and assess how closely it aligns with the principles of a potential agreement,” he added.
Echoing cautious comments last week from Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, he added: “We cannot say for certain that we are optimistic. We are acting very cautiously. There is no reason either to be overly pessimistic.”
There was no immediate comment from the US side following the talks. Trump told reporters on Friday: “I’m for stopping Iran, very simply, from having a nuclear weapon. They can’t have a nuclear weapon. I want Iran to be great and prosperous and terrific.”
Washington’s ally Israel, which opposed the 2015 agreement with Iran that Trump abandoned in 2018, has not ruled out an attack on Iran’s nuclear facilities in the coming months, according to an Israeli official and two other people familiar with the matter.
Since 2019, Iran has breached and far surpassed the 2015 deal’s limits on its uranium enrichment, producing stocks far above what the West says is necessary for a civilian energy program.
A senior Iranian official, who described Iran’s negotiating position on condition of anonymity on Friday, listed its red lines as never agreeing to dismantle its uranium enriching centrifuges, halt enrichment altogether or reduce its enriched uranium stockpile below levels agreed in the 2015 deal.
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Hamas Says Fate of US-Israeli Hostage Unknown After Guard Killed in Israel Strike
Varda Ben Baruch, the grandmother of Edan Alexander, 19, an Israeli army volunteer kidnapped by Hamas, attends a special Kabbalat Shabbat ceremony with families of other hostages, in Herzliya, Israel October 27, 2023 REUTERS/Kuba Stezycki
Hamas said on Saturday the fate of an Israeli dual national soldier believed to be the last US citizen held alive in Gaza was unknown, after the body of one of the guards who had been holding him was found killed by an Israeli strike.
A month after Israel abandoned the ceasefire with the resumption of intensive strikes across the breadth of Gaza, Israel was intensifying its attacks.
President Donald Trump’s envoy Steve Witkoff said in March that freeing Edan Alexander, a 21-year-old New Jersey native who was serving in the Israeli army when he was captured during the Oct. 7, 2023 attacks that precipitated the war, was a “top priority.” His release was at the center of talks held between Hamas leaders and US negotiator Adam Boehler last month.
Hamas had said on Tuesday that it had lost contact with the militants holding Alexander after their location was hit in an Israeli attack. On Saturday it said the body of one of the guards had been recovered.
“The fate of the prisoner and the rest of the captors remains unknown,” said Hamas armed wing Al-Qassam Brigades’ spokesperson Abu Ubaida.
“We are trying to protect all the hostages and preserve their lives … but their lives are in danger because of the criminal bombings by the enemy’s army,” Abu Ubaida said.
The Israeli military did not respond to a Reuters request for comment.
Hamas released 38 hostages under the ceasefire that began on January 19. Fifty-nine are still believed to be held in Gaza, fewer than half of them still alive.
Israel put Gaza under a total blockade in March and restarted its assault on March 18 after talks failed to extend the ceasefire. Hamas says it will free remaining hostages only under an agreement that permanently ends the war; Israel says it will agree only to a temporary pause.
On Friday, the Israeli military said it hit about 40 targets across the enclave over the past day. The military on Saturday announced that a 35-year-old soldier had died in combat in Gaza.
NETANYAHU STATEMENT
Late on Thursday Khalil Al-Hayya, Hamas’ Gaza chief, said the movement was willing to swap all remaining 59 hostages for Palestinians jailed in Israel in return for an end to the war and reconstruction of Gaza.
He dismissed an Israeli offer, which includes a demand that Hamas lay down its arms, as imposing “impossible conditions.”
Israel has not responded formally to Al-Hayya’s comments, but ministers have said repeatedly that Hamas must be disarmed completely and can play no role in the future governance of Gaza. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is scheduled to give a statement later on Saturday.
Hamas on Saturday also released an undated and edited video of Israeli hostage Elkana Bohbot. Hamas has released several videos over the course of the war of hostages begging to be released. Israeli officials have dismissed past videos as propaganda.
After the video was released, Bohbot’s family said in a statement that they were “deeply shocked and devastated,” and expressed concern for his mental and physical condition.
“How much longer will he be expected to wait and ‘stay strong’?” the family asked, urging for all of the 59 hostages who are still held in Gaza to be brought home.
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Oman’s Sultan to Meet Putin in Moscow After Iran-US Talks
FILE PHOTO: Sultan Haitham bin Tariq al-Said gives a speech after being sworn in before the royal family council in Muscat, Oman January 11, 2020. Photo: REUTERS/Sultan Al Hasani/File Photo
Oman’s Sultan Haitham bin Tariq al-Said is set to visit Moscow on Monday, days after the start of a round of Muscat-mediated nuclear talks between the US and Iran.
The sultan will hold talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Tuesday, the Kremlin said.
Iran and the US started a new round of nuclear talks in Rome on Saturday to resolve their decades-long standoff over Tehran’s atomic aims, under the shadow of President Donald Trump’s threat to unleash military action if diplomacy fails.
Ahead of Saturday’s talks, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi met his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov in Moscow. Following the meeting, Lavrov said Russia was “ready to assist, mediate and play any role that will be beneficial to Iran and the USA.”
Moscow has played a role in Iran’s nuclear negotiations in the past as a veto-wielding U.N. Security Council member and signatory to an earlier deal that Trump abandoned during his first term in 2018.
The sultan’s meetings in Moscow visit will focus on cooperation on regional and global issues, the Omani state news agency and the Kremlin said, without providing further detail.
The two leaders are also expected to discuss trade and economic ties, the Kremlin added.
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