The US administration is reportedly investigating Trita Parsi, an expert on Iranian foreign politics and an avid critic of the US-Israel war on Iran, according to US outlet The Free Press on Thursday.
The pro-Israel publication said it had spoken to US officials and seen documents suggesting that the State Department could attempt to deport Parsi, who holds both Iranian and Swedish citizenship but has lived in the US as a green card holder for over 25 years.
However, in a comment on Friday to Turkey’s Anadolu Agency, the State Department said that it had “no plans to revoke the green card of Mr. Parsi at this time”, emphasising, on the other hand, that the agency would not rule out possible future decisions against him.
“No foreign national is guaranteed a right to be in our country,” the State Department statement continued, arguing that it could “unapologetically terminate the legal status of any foreign national who participates in activities that undermine America’s national security.”
Parsi is the co-founder of the Quinci Institute for Responsible Statecraft, a think-tank based in Washington, DC.
He has been a vocal critic of the US-Israeli war on Iran ever since it began on 28 February.
He has argued that reaching a diplomatic solution with Tehran remains the only viable and sustainable path to ending the conflict that has thrown much of the Middle East into turmoil and disrupted global energy supplies.
A Trump administration official said Secretary of State Marco Rubio continued his efforts to combat what he reportedly called “Iranian influence in the US”, according to The Free Press, vowing to take steps against “anyone who seeks to undermine the US” as well as “people who support adversaries of ours and whose work furthers their agenda and undermines our security.”
Parsi’s case, if confirmed, would not be the first such incident targeting Iranians.
In April this year, the US State Department announced the arrest of Qasem Soleimani’s niece and grandniece, and cancelled the visa of the daughter of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council chief, Ali Larijani.
