Harris associates with Iranian operative who lauds Hezbollah

Elahi, who was born in Iran, has close personal ties to the Islamic regime and even served as head of the Iranian Navy’s political-ideological office in 1982 according to a CIA report.

By David Isaac, JNS

U.S. Vice President and Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris mingled with an Iranian regime operative, Mohammad Ali Elahi, who has praised Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, the founder of the Islamic Republic, as “the leader who led the greatest revolution in the history of Islam.”

Harris is seen smiling and chatting with Elahi, “spiritual leader” of the Islamic House of Wisdom (IHW) in Dearborn Heights, Mich., at a COVID-19 vaccination event in Detroit in July 2021, in a picture included in an Oct. 9 report by the George Washington University Program on Extremism.

Harris also accepted an invitation to visit Elahi’s organization at the time, an event that was canceled due to heavy rains. “Vice President Harris thanked imam Elahi and IHW for their preparation to host her at the House of Wisdom last Monday and regretted missing the visitation because of the flood emergency in the area,” IHW said on its website.

Elahi and IHW continually exalt the Islamic regime on social media, but “what arguably constitutes the most problematic aspect of Imam Elahi’s persona is his explicit and continuous support for Hezbollah,” said the recent report, titled “Propaganda, Procurement and Lethal Operations: Iran’s Activities Inside America.”

Kamala Harris, in July 2021, met with an Iranian regime operative, Imam Mohammad Ali Elahi, who has close ties to groups fueling antisemitic hate on American campuses.
Source: George Washington University’s Program report on Extremism.https://t.co/QCF1IL8rAS pic.twitter.com/BahGSTG62I

— SeKooh (@3KooH) October 12, 2024

In 2010, the IHW organized a six-day memorial service for Hussain Fadlallah, the spiritual leader of Hezbollah. It described Fadlallah as “the voice of wisdom, moderation, peace, justice, freedom, human unity and dignity.”

A CBN television report in 2007 showed Elahi meeting with Fadlallah.

Elahi told CBN, “We need to have another interview talking about whether Hezbollah is a terrorist organization or not. I know that legally in the U.S. now, Hezbollah is on that list. … They [Hezbollah] were resisting against [Israeli] occupation. I think that is something that is supported even with our government.”

“Aside from al-Qaeda, no terrorist group has killed more Americans than Hezbollah,” CBN noted.

In 1995, Elahi was quoted by The Arab American News saying, “If my blood would help the liberation of Lebanon, I would give my blood to liberate Lebanon.”

The report detailed Elahi’s positions, which toe Tehran’s line, such as referring to the U.S. killing of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps leader Gen. Qasem Soleimani as a political assassination, and describing Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu as “a Hitler of our century.”

“The war that Netanyahu and his terrorist cult have started against Lebanon will never succeed,” Elahi said in September as Israel killed Hezbollah leaders. “I hope to see Netanyahu and his criminal cabinet in jail soon. And if they escape justice in this world, for sure they won’t escape the hell next.”

Elahi has also cast doubt on al-Qaeda’s role in the 9/11 terrorist attacks.

Elahi, who was born in Iran, has close personal ties to the Islamic regime. According to a CIA report, he served as head of the Iranian Navy’s political-ideological office in 1982.

Images taken from his social media networks, some of which are included in George Washington University’s report, show Elahi meeting with major Iranian political figures, including Khomeini and then-Iranian President Hassan Rouhani.

The report said Elahi is the “only identifiable American member” of the Ahlul Bayt World Assembly (ABWA), a group established in 1994 by Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei to export the Islamic Republic’s revolutionary ideas to non-Iranian Shi’ite and Sunni communities.

Elahi’s aforementioned Islamic House of Wisdom is a beneficiary of the New York-based Alavi Foundation aid program, a U.S. nonprofit, described in the reports as “arguably the most prolific actor in the spread of Iranian regime influence in the United States.”

Elahi’s group received $500,000 from Alavi since 2010.

The Department of Justice accused Alavi in 2008 of secretly serving “as a front for the Iranian government and as a gateway for millions of dollars to be funneled to Iran in clear violation of U.S. sanctions laws.”

Alavi was found guilty in U.S. court in 2017, but the ruling was overturned over procedural errors. The legal battle is ongoing, the report said.

In April 2010, Alavi’s president, Farshid Jahedi, was arrested and sentenced to three months in prison for obstruction of justice. He was caught destroying documents while under surveillance.

Despite Elahi’s deep ties to the Iranian regime, Harris isn’t the only U.S. politician to engage with him, the report noted, listing Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, former U.S. Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass.), the president’s current special envoy for climate, and numerous U.S. congressmen, including Sen. Gary C. Peters (D-Mich.), Rep. Debbie Dingell (D-Mich.) and the late Rep. John Conyers (D-Mich.).

Jim Hanson, chief editor of the Middle East Forum, a Philadelphia-based think tank, in explaining Democratic politicians’ willingness to interact with Elahi, told the New York Post on Saturday:

“Democrats hold a dangerously mistaken notion that Iran is part of the solution—not the main problem in the Middle East. This leads them to outreach here in the U.S. with Muslims tied to that tyrannical theocracy like Mohammad Ali Elahi.”

IranKamala HarrisMohammad Ali Elahi