EXCLUSIVE — Rep. Brian Mast (R-FL) is demanding the Department of Defense address a list of unanswered questions revolving around a recently promoted official with established links to the Iranian government.
A cache of highly classified U.S. intelligence was leaked onto the internet earlier this month, revealing Israeli contingency plans for a counter-strike against Iran. An investigation by the FBI is ongoing and the possible suspects number in the thousands, but lawmakers and Israeli officials continue to focus on one individual in the Pentagon.
Mast filed a letter to Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin on Monday expressing “grave national security concerns over [the] promotion of Ariance Tabatabai to deputy assistant secretary of defense for force education and training” regarding the leak.
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Tabatabai is an Iranian academic who has been previously investigated regarding Iranian influence embedded in the U.S. government.
“Given the timing and severity of this security beach, I urge you to open investigations into every individual employed by the Pentagon and other federal agencies that have ties to Iran — including Tabatabai,” Mast wrote. “Not doing so is undermining America’s national security interests, especially as the Islamic Republic of Iran has sought to assassinate President Donald Trump and interfered in the 2024 elections to benefit President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris.”
In 2023, Tabatabai was named a participant in the Iran Experts Initiative, a clandestine program of the Iranian regime aimed at manufacturing positive perspectives on the Islamic republic via influence over experts and commentators.
IEI communications, first made public in 2023 via a report in Semafor, connected Tabatabai to the “network of young second-generation Iranian experts” that would help sell the idea of a softer Iranian nuclear deal to U.S. policy institutes and news outlets. The communications showed Tabatabai was in regular contact with an Iranian handler managing the initiative, including informing him that she would be testifying before Congress about the Iranian nuclear deal.
Tabatabai also served under President Joe Biden’s special envoy to Iran, Robert Malley, who was unceremoniously pulled from his position over security concerns, including the mishandling of classified information in his dealings with the Iranian regime. His security clearance was revoked.
Tabatabai was also investigated by the Defense Counterintelligence and Security Agency — a fact Mast points out in his letter, acknowledging that “the results of that investigation have not been made fully clear.”
Mast is requesting clarifications on how Tabatabai was evaluated for her promotion into the Force Education and Training division, her qualifications, and whether there were other candidates for the position.
He further requests clarification on whether Tabatabai previously disclosed her work with the IEI or “relationships with foreign individuals” during her vetting and subsequent investigations.
The DOD has stood by Tabatabai throughout each controversy, asserting that she had been properly vetted for her positions.
Pentagon press secretary and Maj. Gen. Pat Ryder addressed the recent leak of Israeli intelligence at a press conference on Oct. 22.
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“The FBI is investigating the alleged leak of classified documents and working closely with the Department of Defense and the intelligence community on this,” Ryder told reporters. “The investigation is in its first few days, so it’s important to let that investigation run its course.”
Ryder addressed the speculation in the U.S. and Israel surrounding Tabatabai, stating, “To my knowledge, this official is not a subject of interest.”
The press secretary avoided using her name, stating that he didn’t want “to start throwing out names to perpetuate information that, again, as I highlighted, to my knowledge, the official that was being referenced is not a subject of interest. “
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