Kari’s Iran strategy, journalists in jeopardy, ideas in Normandy

Dear Colleagues,

The U.S. conducted air strikes on Iran’s nuclear facilities in Fordow, Natanz and Isfahan on Sunday morning local time. The International Atomic Energy Agency reported there was no increase in off-site radiation levels at the three sites hit by U.S. bombers.

A short while after the U.S. strikes, the Israeli military said it had launched a wave of attacks on western Iran after Iran hit several Israeli cities with missiles. Israeli emergency services said at least ten sites had been hit by Iran, including in Tel Aviv, Carmel, and Haifa.

On Sunday, a Houthi spokesman in Yemen said the Iran-backed group would respond to the Americans. Mohammed al-Bukhaiti, a member of the Houthi movement’s political bureau, told Al Jazeera Mubasher TV that its ceasefire deal with Washington is now off.

For years, the Houthis had been launching attacks on international shipping lanes. They agreed to a ceasefire with the United States in May to stop attacking U.S. ships in exchange for an end to Washington’s bombings of the group. The Houthis continued to strike Israel.

Kari Lake’s Iran Strategy

This Wednesday June 25 at 10 am ET, Kari Lake is scheduled to testify before the House Foreign Affairs Committee. American adversaries — including the Communist Party of China, the Kremlin, and the Mullahs of Iran — spend billions each year on media and international information operations. We’re hoping Ms. Lake will explain her vision and strategy. Ms. Lake leads our parent agency, the United States Agency for Global Media.

On Wednesday, we would put the Middle East atop the list for discussion. This spring, Ms. Lake placed Voice of America’s Persian service on administrative leave. On Friday June 13, she scrambled to bring back Iranian journalists, proclaiming “history is being made, and VOA Persian news service is rising to the occasion to cover it.” Israel had just started its attacks on Iranian nuclear targets. Two days ago, however — after a week back on the job — Ms. Lake sent VOA Iranians packing again, this time apparently for good.

Here’s our competitor Al Jazeera’s unflattering account of the chaotic chain of events. Here’s the Wall Street Journal weighing in against Ms. Lake’s herky-jerky way of managing U.S.- funded Persian services, RFE/RL’s Farda (meaning “tomorrow” in Farsi) included. “It’s no time to stifle Radio Free Iran,” opined Journal editors.

Let’s see on Wednesday how Ms. Lake explains her determination to decimate U.S.-funded media for the Middle East. Since March, she has tried to starve us of the funding Congress approved for this fiscal year.

MBN is the only U.S.-backed Arabic-language media group countering anti-American narratives advanced by Iran, Islamic terrorists, and other groups. We show value. We produce content across all platforms. We report the news — and stay ahead of the story.

A former Israeli military official tells us if the Mullahs survive the current conflict, watch for a humiliated regime to lash out. We’ll stay focused on Iranian proxies. They’ve been degraded by Israeli military actions these past months. They’ve hardly disappeared, however. After U.S. strikes, Israel is preparing for the possibility that Hezbollah joins the war.

Our reporting will follow Iran’s activity across the Middle East and North Africa and outside the region as well. Over the years, Tehran’s clerical regime has orchestrated the bombing of a Jewish center in Buenos Aires, an attack on a bus in Bulgaria, and a plan to kidnap an Iranian-American journalist in New York. Iranian services have plotted to murder American officials, including President Trump.

I know from my time at RFE/RL that Iranian journalists, dissidents, and democracy advocates abroad are constant targets. In October, 2011, Iranian agents planned to assassinate the Saudi Ambassador in Washington at a popular Georgetown restaurant.

MBN Young Professionals

Last Thursday afternoon at Kafe Leopold in Georgetown we convened the first session of MBN’s early career professionals program (no expense to MBN). James Glassman spoke about tariffs, war in the Middle East, oil prices and the global economy. We’re focused on news, but are always keen for context and trying to see the bigger picture.

Once a scholar and magazine publisher at American Enterprise Institute, Jim is an influential writer on business and economy who knows our space very well. He’s a former U.S. Under Secretary of State for Public Diplomacy. Our colleague Aya Elbaz recorded a video conversation on Thursday that we will post soon. Here’s a longer interview with Jim on the Israel-Iran conflict and global market trends.

I’ll join Jim Glassman for a panel on broader issues of American soft power on July 16 hosted by Thom Shanker’s national security and public diplomacy program at George Washington University. If you want a sharp overview of the role of U.S.-funded media, read the recent essay by Martha Bayles.

Andrew Walworth of RealClearPolitics is co-organizer of the July 16 event and will speak as well. In case you missed it, here’s Andy’s piece from last week on U.S.-funded international media and the Middle East. There’s a nod to MBN. And bewilderment over the Kari Lake method.

Can America’s new public diplomacy strategy really be, writes Andy, “the information equivalent of the just-in-time inventory system that came into fashion in U.S. manufacturing in the 1970s? No need to maintain resources in advance … simply order them up when the situation demands.” That would be thin gruel indeed.

Alhurra, Farda — and Journalists in Trouble

MBN’s brand Alhurra (meaning “the free one) and RFE/RL’s Persian service Farda are a formidable combination. We’re talking with RFE/RL Editor-in-Chief Nicola Careem about ways we can deepen cooperation. Thanks to Leila Bazzi and our in-house Iran expert Andres Ilves for helping on our side.

Reaching audiences in Iran and the Arab Middle East with accurate news and responsible analysis is arguably more important than ever before. None of this work is easy. A good portion is plainly dangerous.

On April 30, we wrote to Kari Lake with regard to taxpayer-funded journalists at risk. The letter was co-signed by fellow grantee CEOs. The appeal went unacknowledged.

A month later on May 30, Kari Lake’s security chief at the United States Agency for Global Media informed us in a Teams conversation that security clearances held by a small number of grantee executives were being deactivated effective immediately. Clearances help leadership protect journalists in dangerous environments.

We followed on with a letter from grantee CEOs expressing concern and seeking clarification. Needlessly and irresponsibly, the world for American-backed journalists became this month a more dangerous place. We still await a reply from USAGM.

Defending Journalists

Our colleague Andres Ilves has just been invited to join the board of directors of the Rory Peck Trust, an influential UK organization that devotes itself entirely to the concerns of freelance journalists around the world.

I continue to serve on the advisory board of Mikhail Khodorkovsky’s London-based Justice for Journalists Foundation, a group that advocates for journalists threatened and imprisoned around the world.

We’ll continue to look for ways to expand our network, protect our people, and serve our Congressionally mandated mission.

I’ll be in Normandy next weekend (at no expense to MBN) speaking at a conference of the Paris-based Tocqueville Conversations. I’m a member of the group’s advisory board. The conference will deal in part with issues pertaining to technology, oligarchy, and democracy. I’ll be able to report on MBN’s important work to a well-connected international crowd. MBN has a great story to tell.

Meanwhile, let’s gather for a town hall meeting on Wednesday at 12:30 pm. We’ll break bread after (I’m buying, so again, no expense to MBN).

We noted on Saturday in Politico that Ms. Lake plans to claw back large sums from grantee networks. Let’s see what we learn from her Congressional testimony Wednesday morning. As you know, Ms. Lake declines to engage with us directly.

My best, Jeff