Sen. Tom Cotton has sent a dire letter to FBI Director Kash Patel and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, urging an investigation into alleged Iranian spies that could be operating within the US intelligence community, The Post has exclusively learned.
The letter, sent Wednesday, pressed the FBI and Department of Defense to review the matter “thoroughly for counterintelligence concerns and potential criminality” — sounding the alarm that “national security information” may have been provided to a “hostile foreign power” or that American citizens acting on behalf of an enemy government may have worked to influence US policy.
In a new letter to the FBI and Department of Defense, Sen. Tom Cotton warns that “Iranian government-linked affiliates have influenced and may be still influencing US government operations. Specifically, Ariane Tabatabai” (above) — a senior policy advisor at the Pentagon who is previously accused of being a spy. Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists
Sympathizers to the government of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei are suspected to have infiltrated US intelligence and guided policy. IRANIAN SUPREME LEADER OFFICE /AFP via Getty ImagesThe letter specifically singled out Ariane Tabatabai, a founding member of the Iranian Experts Initiatives (IEI) who served a senior role in the State Department under President Biden, and who still works in the Pentagon as a senior policy advisor.
Tabatabai, 40, an Iranian-born US intelligence official, was alleged in a 2023 trove of leaked documents to be a willing recruit in an influence operation run by Tehran’s Foreign Ministry.
Tabatabai was reportedly involved in the founding of Iranian Experts Initiative (IEI), launched in 2014 by the Iranian Foreign Ministry to “promote Tehran’s arguments in the West.” King's College LondonShe was also a top aide to Robert Malley, Biden’s special envoy to Iran who was suspended in June 2023 for mishandling “protected material.” Critics charge that Malley was at the center of a massive State Department scandal, alleging he encouraged a “permissive” stance toward Iran — one that allowed the nation to aid Hamas and Hezbollah in attacks against Israel.
For years, Republicans have labeled Tabatabai a spy, a claim that intelligence officials under Biden repeatedly denied.
Last October, when US documents detailing a planned strike against Iran were leaked — delivering a major blow to Israel’s war effort — Israeli intelligence pointed squarely at Tabatabai as a likely culprit.
Sen. Tom Cotton, in his letter to the FBI and DoD, said the Biden administration repeatedly ignored calls to clean house of foreign actors operating in the Pentagon. ZUMAPRESS.com
Cotton’s letter to Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth (above) warned that enemies, “gained prominent positions both in and outside government during the Biden administration.” Al Drago/UPI/Shutterstock“She has been suspected of collaborating with the Islamic regime before,” a US-based Iran expert told the Post in 2024. “There were some calls for her to be stripped of her security clearance.”
The Pentagon has previously maintained that Tabatabai was not suspected in the leak.
Speaking with The Post after the letter was delivered, Sen. Cotton reiterated the urgency of repairing the leaky ship that Biden left behind.
“Iran’s mission is ‘death to America,’ so it’s particularly concerning that Joe Biden allowed someone so deeply connected to Iranian leadership access to our national security,” the Republican from Arkansas said of Tabatabai. “The FBI and DoD should continue correcting the many security lapses of the Biden administration.”
Even now, Tabatabai has managed to keep her $153,434-a-year job at the Pentagon — along with her security clearance.
Tabatabai’s father, Sayed Javad Tabatabai (right), was close to two Iranian presidents before his death in 2023. Mehr News Agency/Creative Commons
Tabatabai grew up in Tehran, where her father taught at Tehran University. @HeshmatAlavi/XTabatabai grew up in Tehran, the daughter of Sayed Javad Tabatabai, one of Iran’s leading political thinkers. Her father taught at Tehran University and was close to former Iranian presidents Muhammad Khatami and Hassan Rouhani.
In Wednesday’s letter to Patel and Hegseth, Cotton, who is the head of the Senate Intelligence Committee warned: “I write to reiterate my concern that Iranian government-linked affiliates have influenced and may be still influencing US government operations. Specifically, Ariane Tabatabai, a founding member of the so-called ‘Iranian Experts Initiatives’ (IEI), is still working with the US intelligence community.
In 2024, Iran fired a salvo of ballistic missiles into Israel as bad actors in US government sought to aid the rogue nation. REUTERS“Affiliates of IEI gained prominent positions both in and outside government during the Biden administration, posing significant danger to national security,” he wrote.
IEI was launched in 2014 by the Iranian Foreign Ministry to “promote Tehran’s arguments in the West,” according to Persian satellite TV network Iran International. Tabatabai has not publicly discussed her role in the group.
The Post has reached out to the Pentagon and Tabatabai for comment. A Department of Defense spokesperson said: “We have received Senator Cotton’s letter. The Department will submit our response directly to Senator Cotton’s office.”
Cotton’s letter went on to accuse “several Obama and Biden appointees” of “unreported recurring contact for years with Iranian officials such as then-Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif,” and “sought guidance from Tehran.”
“While the Biden administration ignored repeated calls from Republicans to remove officials affiliated with IEI and the Iranian government, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and the Department of Defense (DoD) should now correct this mistake,” the letter advised.
