An American Muslim non-profit organization accused of its allegiance to the Iranian regime will be hosting its annual conference in Herndon, Virginia, this December, underscoring the group’s continued existence to advance the interests of the Islamic Republic despite facing scrutiny from the US government since the 1980s.
Promotional material for the upcoming conference by Iranian regime-proxy @MSAPSG, writes @EFischberger, features "armed soldiers on a battlefield and an inverted triangle symbol associated with the designated terrorist organization Hamas." https://t.co/MzGaHlQihU
— Focus on Western Islamism (@FWIslamism) December 9, 2024
The Muslim Students Association Persian-Speaking Group (MSA-PSG), also known as Anjoman Islamie, will host its yearly conference under the theme “Resistance: An Islamic Duty.”
The accompanying promotional material clearly illustrates the conference’s theme, featuring armed soldiers on a battlefield and an inverted triangle that has become a symbol of the Palestinian Islamist group Hamas following the October 7 attacks.
Unlike other, more notorious American Islamist groups such as the American Muslims for Palestine or the Council on American-Islamic Relations, the Washington DC-based Iranian student association has not generated as many headlines.
But according to the report titled “Propaganda, Procurement and Lethal Operations: Iran’s Activities Inside America”, the MSA-PSG, along with other groups such as the Dearborn-based Islamic Center of America (ICA), remains one of the active pro-Iranian entities in the United States.
@FBI - you need to shut this down and keep the terrorist enemies of America out of the country.
— (((Mohammed Goldenberger))) (@mike140548) December 4, 2024
The MSA-PSG has a relatively long history, dating back to the 1960s before the Islamic Republic was established following the 1979 Iranian Revolution. Mostafa Chamran and Ebrahim Yazdi founded the organization after they split from the Iranian Student Confederation because of what they saw as an inadequate response to the uprising following the 1963
demonstrations in Iran against the arrest of Grand Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini.
Chamran and Yazdi would later play a huge role in the Iranian Revolution, with Yazdi eventually becoming Iran’s foreign minister after the revolution. Chamran, a Berkeley-educated engineer, would later play an integral role in establishing the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) and later served as Iran’s Minister of National Defense and Deputy Prime Minister for Revolutionary Affairs.
The upcoming annual conference will take place from December 27 to 30 and will feature several speakers known for their extremist views. Among these speakers are Sayed Abazar Wahedi, the head of the Islamic Center of Fatimiyyah in Hayward, California, who is known for his support for the Islamic Republic, and Zainab Rights, the editor-in-chief of TMJ News, who has expressed support for Hamas and Hezbollah several times.
Absolutely! The resilience and determination of the Resistance, rooted in the teachings of Islam, are truly inspiring. It's incredible to see people from all over intrigued by the strength found in the Quran.
— Rameez Raja (@Rameez2202) February 25, 2024
The MSA-PSG caught the eye of American law enforcement agencies decades ago. The FBI described the student association as “an extension of the present regime in Iran” way back in 1984. The FBI also accused the group of receiving funding and support from Iran’s Foreign Ministry and alleged that the Iranian government is using the organization to target Iranian dissidents on US soil.
A 1987 FBI report also revealed that MSA-PSG members were required to pledge loyalty to the Iranian regime. Additionally, the FBI explained in 1994 that the group had been in contact with Hezbollah.
Lastly, Dale Watson, who was then the Chief of the International Terrorism Section of the FBI, said during a 1998 testimony in the Senate that the Iranian government used the group for “low-level intelligence and technical expertise” and that it “also provides a significant resource base which allows the government of Iran to maintain the capability to mount operations against the United States.”
Nevertheless, the group continues to operate and even enjoys tax-exempt 501(c)(3) status. The organization, which files taxes under the title Muslim Students Association Pan Sirah Group Inc., was granted this status in 2010. It was revoked in 2013 and reinstated later.
