After several months of discussions, a group of Iranian Americans finally converged and founded the “Progressive American-Iranian Committee” (PAIC).
This new organization is particularly focused on counteracting the Iranian regime’s web of influence in the US. Last week, Hassan Dai interviewed Kayvan Kaboli, a co-founder of PAIC, and discussed this new group’s manifesto and their means of achieving their goals.

Ignoring the past failures and continuing to negotiate with the Iranian authorities to resolve the ongoing problems between the U.S. and the Islamic Republic has been the policy adopted by the West in general and the US in particular; as if they keep trying their magic wand hoping it will work.

Kayvan Kaboli, a member of “Progressive American-Iranian Committee” (PAIC). He has been a political activist for 30 years with particular interest in environmental and peace issues. At the moment he is striving to establish an international alliance composed of democratic and secular forces against the Tehran’s Islamic Republic.

QUESTION:  Last time we discussed the new calls for negotiating with the Iranian ayatollahs. You talked about the fact that negotiating with the Iranian government is really not new and it has been going on for the last three decades to no avail. So if we should not negotiate with the Mullahs and if as [...]

The last and probably the most catastrophic chapter of secret dealings with Iran happened under President Bush and with respect to Iraq. US was involved in secrete dialogues with Iran prior to invading Iraq. The US was well aware that the Iraq’s future, at least for several years, would be under the Iranian influence. Prior to May 3rd, 2003, when the last meeting was held between the two countries in Geneva, US had bent backwards to appease Tehran’s rulers, hopping that in return, Iran will be less intrusive in Iraq’s affairs. We now know that it was a futile wish

There are two distinct but related groups of people and organizations that are active in manipulating US policy toward Iran. The first is what I call the “Iranian regime’s lobby” in the U.S. They are present in US media, think-tanks and a potpourri of various organizations. Their lobby activities are also focused on the US Congress. These groups have various degrees of connections to Tehran. The second group operates in conjunction with US business interests, and in particular with the oil industry.