Watertown man accused of acting as unregistered agent of Iranian government

BOSTON (WHDH) - A Watertown man has been charged with allegedly acting as an unregistered agent of the Iranian government.

Kaveh Lotfolah Afrasiabi, also known as “Lotfolah Kaveh Afrasiabi,” was arrested Monday at his home and is slated to appear in Boston federal court Tuesday for violating the Foreign Agents Registration Act, according to the United State’s Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of New York.

Afrasiabi, who is a citizen of the Islamic Republic of Iran and a lawful permanent resident of the United States, has allegedly been secretly employed by the Iranian government and paid by Iranian diplomats assigned to the Permanent Mission of the Islamic Republic of Iran to the United Nations in New York City.

He has received about $265,000 in checks drawn on the IMUN’s official bank accounts since 2007 and has gotten health insurance through the IMUN’s employee health benefit plans since at least 2011, the U.S. Attorney’s Office alleged.

In the course of his employment by the Iranian government, the U.S. Attorney’s Office said Afrasiabi has lobbied a U.S. Congressman and the U.S. Department of State to advocate for policies favorable to Iran, counseled Iranian diplomats concerning U.S. foreign policy, made television appearances to advocate for the Iranian government’s views on world events, and authored articles and opinion pieces espousing the Iranian government’s position on various matters of foreign policy.

“In one instance in January 2020, Afrasiabi emailed Iran’s Foreign Minister and Permanent Representative to the United Nations with advice for ‘retaliation’ for the U.S. military airstrike that killed Major General Qasem Soleimani, the head of the Quds Force, the external operations arm of the Iranian government’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps,” the U.S. Attorney’s Office said. He allegedly proposed that the Iranian government “end all inspections and end all information on Iran’s nuclear activities pending a [United Nations Security Council] condemnation of [the United States’] illegal crime,” a move he reportedly claimed would “strike fear in the heart of [the] enemy.”

Afrasiabi also allegedly admitted in his own communications that his extensive body of published works and television appearances as a political scientist author has been attributable to the funding he receives from the Iranian government.

Afrasiabi knew that FARA requires agents of foreign principals to register with the U.S. Department of Justice and has discussed information obtained from FARA disclosures with others; however, did not register as an agent of the Government of Iran, the U.S. Attorney’s Office said.

“Afrasiabi allegedly sought to influence the American public and American policymakers for the benefit of his employer, the Iranian government, by disguising propaganda as objective policy analysis and expertise,” Acting U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of N.Y. Seth DuCharme said. “This Office is committed to the robust enforcement of the Foreign Agents Registration Act, which provides the American people the tools they need to evaluate opinions and arguments in the marketplace of ideas by requiring foreign agents to declare their paymasters. Those, like the defendant, who conceal the full extent of their work for a foreign government when the law requires disclosure will face consequences for their actions.”

(Copyright (c) 2024 Sunbeam Television. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)