Tehran -On January 20, 2025, Donald Trump is a presidential decree to stop US foreign development assistance for 90 days with the efficiency of US support programs and the need to re -evaluate the consistency with the “American First” agenda. I signed.
The State Department immediately gave orders, freezing the most on -progress foreign aid initiative, and pausing new funding efforts.
This movement is assembled as a daily review, but caused an immediate concern between Iran’s opposition and the asylum group. They argue that freezing assistance will strengthen Iranian human rights infringement by blocking support for independent media and civil society.
But if you look closely, these concerns suggest that they are just the cover. The actual problem is that this decision threatens the long -standing efforts to design Iranian administration through US financial and strategic support.
In September 2024, he leaked the internal emails and documents obtained by Grayzone, and revealed that U.S. policy proprieters adjusted their efforts to rebuild Iran’s opposition. Leaks refers to a secret initiative led by Karl Garsman, a former director of the Democratic National Fund (NED), and builds the “Iranian Freedom”. Unstable the Islamic Republic system.
The document also provided a list of associated with “related or involved individuals” to IFC. Among the names listed as an important person in this coalition, there was Leather Paravi, who was the last exiled son of Iran’s last monarch, and pretended to be the current throne. MASIH ALINEJAD, a journalist based in the United States, and MARIAM MEMARSADEGHI, an advocate of the United States that publicly called US intervention in Iran.
The NED was originally established in the Reagan administration as a tool for the United States Intelligence report, and has a long history of funding groups aimed at defeating foreign governments. From supporting Nicaragua and Venezuela’s anti -government FACT to providing funds to opposition movements in Hong Kong, this organization will move on Washington’s geological interests in the outfit of promoting democracy. It has played an important role.
Leaked documents suggest that similar tactics are being deployed in Iran, and US government funds are directed to the opposition network to put pressure on Iranian facilities. This revelation questions the claim that US assistance is mainly related to protection of human rights. In reality, financing is likely to be an extension of a widespread strategy for Washington’s change.
The impact of Trump’s decision is probably reflected in the reaction of Dana Stall, a US official, who was probably the Deputy Secretary of Defense (DASD) in the Middle East (DASD). In recent posts about X, Stroul lamented the suspension of assistance and wrote the following:
“-Incity flow of human rights, information, and $ 65 million for the organization of civil society. Do you want to enable the” maximum support “policy for people in Iran as part of the” maximum pressure “for the Iranian administration? ?
She assembles funds from the perspective of promoting human rights and democracy, but she explicitly ties it to Iran’s wider “maximum pressure” campaign. Her use of the term “maximum support” directly matches Leather Paravi’s rhetoric, which has repeatedly demanded more US support to bring the change of government.
For many years, Pahlavi and his allies have argued that international support is needed to weaken Iranian control systems. STROL’s posts indicate that US officials are actively considering this approach and are treated as tools to promote Washington’s strategic goals, rather than simply supporting civil society. Masu. Now that Trump’s assistance is frozen, those who rely on US resources to promote the change of government are suddenly scrambled.
Opposition party desperate response: dependence crisis
The sudden suspension of funding in the United States caused the waves of anxiety among Iran’s opposition, especially exile.
Within a few days of Trump’s presidential order, opposition activists and media were in a hurry to warn the freezing of assistance to worsen Iranian human rights conditions. But their reactions suggest much more concerns. This is a sudden loss of an important financial lifeline.
Iran’s exile group has long been asserted that it is an independent grass root movement that expresses the will of the people of Iran. But the overwhelming distress following Trump’s order suggests not.
With Trump’s external assistance reviews, the future of the United States will remain uncertain. But one thing is clear. Temporary withdrawal of US assistance forced the moment of Iran’s opposition was forced.