Manucher Ghorbanifar (nickname Gorba) is an expatriate Iranian arms dealer best known as a middleman in the Iran-Contra Affair during the Ronald Reagan presidency. He re-emerged in American politics during the lead-up to the 2003 invasion of Iraq during the first term of President George W. Bush as a back-channel intelligence source to certain Pentagon officials who desired regime change in anti-American and theocratic Iran. Jump to: navigation, search An expatriate (in abbreviated form expat) is someone temporarily or permanently in a country and culture other than that of their upbringing and/or legal residence. ... The arms industry is a massive global industry. ... Jump to: navigation, search A TIME Magazine cover of Oliver Norths testifying in front of the U.S. Congress. ... Jump to: navigation, search Ronald Wilson Reagan, GCB, (February 6, 1911 – June 5, 2004) was the 40th President of the United States (1981–1989) and the 33rd Governor of California (1967–1975). ... Jump to: navigation, search This article covers invasion specifics. ... Jump to: navigation, search George Walker Bush (born July 6, 1946) is the 43rd and current President of the United States and a former Governor of the State of Texas. ... Jump to: navigation, search Intelligence is the process and the result of gathering information and analyzing it to answer questions or obtain advance warnings needed to plan for the future. ... The United States Department of Defense, abbreviated as DoD or DOD and sometimes called the Defense Department is a civilian Cabinet organization of the United States government. ... Regime change is the overthrow of a government (or regime) considered illegitimate by an external force (usually military), and its replacement with a new government according to the ideas and/or interests promoted by that force. ... Anti-American sentiment is a hostility towards or disapproval of the government, culture, history, and/or people of the United States of America. ... Jump to: navigation, search The term theocracy is used to describe a form of government in which a religion or faith plays a dominant role. ...

In the 1980s, Ghorbanifar's principal American contacts were National Security Council agents Oliver North and Michael Ledeen. Ghorbanifar also tried to get the US to support the Mojahedin-e-Khalq (MEK) opposition to the Khomeini government of Iran. Ledeen vouched for Ghorbanifar to National Security Advisor Robert McFarlane. Oliver North later claimed that Ghorbanifar had given him the idea for diverting profits from TOW and HAWK missile sales to Iran to the Nicaraguan Contras. Jump to: navigation, search // Events and trends The 1980s marked an abrupt shift towards more conservative lifestyles after the momentous cultural revolutions which took place in the 1960s and 1970s and the definition of the AIDS virus in 1981. ... NSC can also stand for National Safety Council in several countries such as the US and Ireland. ... Oliver North Oliver Laurence North (b. ... Jump to: navigation, search In law, treason is the crime of disloyalty to ones nation. ... MKO Logo The Mojahedin-e-Khalq is also known as the Mujahedin-e-Khalq (MEK), the Mujahideen al-Khalq, the Mujahideen al-Khalq Organization (MKO), or The Peoples Mujahedin of Iran (PMOI). ... Jump to: navigation, search Ayatollah Khomeini founded the first modern Islamic republic Ayatollah Seyyed Ruhollah Khomeini (آیت‌الله روح‌الله خمینی in Persian) (May 17, 1900 – June 3, 1989) was an Iranian Shia Muslim cleric, and the political and spiritual leader of the 1979 Islamic Revolution which saw the overthrow of Mohammad Reza Pahlavi... The Assistant to the President for National Security Affairs, commonly referred to as the National Security Advisor, serves as the chief advisor to the President of the United States on national security issues. ... U.S. Marine Lieutenant Colonel Robert Carl Bud McFarlane (born 1937), was National Security Advisor to President Ronald Reagan from 1983 to late 1985 and became one of the administration’s primary scapegoats during the Iran-Contra Affair. ... Oliver North Oliver Laurence North (b. ... A TOW missile being fired from a Jeep. ... The Raytheon MIM-23 HAWK is a surface-to-air missile. ... The Contras (from the Spanish term La Contra, short for movement of the contrarrevolucionarios, meaning counter-revolutionaries) were the armed opponents of Nicaraguas Sandinista Junta of National Reconstruction following the July 1979 overthrow of Anastasio Somoza Debayle and the ending of the Somoza familys 43-year rule. ...

Ghorbanifar's suspected duplicity during the Iran-Contra deal led CIA Director William Casey to order three separate lie-detector tests, all of which he failed. Iranian officials also suspected Ghorbanifar of passing them forged American documents. The CIA issued a "burn notice" (or "Fabricator Notice") on Ghorbanifar in 1984, meaning he was regarded as an unreliable source of intelligence. A 1987 congressional report on Iran-Contra cites the CIA warning that Ghorbanifar "should be regarded as an intelligence fabricator and a nuisance". Jump to: navigation, search See CIA leak grand jury investigation The CIA Seal The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) is an American intelligence agency, responsible for obtaining and analyzing information about foreign governments, corporations, and individuals, and reporting such information to the various branches of the U.S. Government. ... William Joseph Casey (March 13, 1913 - May 6, 1987) was the Director of the Central Intelligence Agency from 1981 to 1987. ... A polygraph or lie detector is a device which measures and records several physiological variables such as blood pressure, heart rate, respiration and skin conductivity while a series of questions is being asked, in an attempt to detect lies. ... Jump to: navigation, search This page is about the year 1984. ... Jump to: navigation, search 1987 (MCMLXXXVII) is a common year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar. ...

In December 2001 Michael Ledeen organized a three-day meeting in Rome, Italy between Manucher Ghorbanifar and Defense Intelligence Agency officials Larry Franklin and Harold Rhode. Also present were two officials from Italy's SISMI. In addition to a position at the American Enterprise Institute, Ledeen was working as a consultant to then U.S. Undersecretary of Defense for Policy Douglas Feith, who oversaw the Office of Special Plans. The 2001 meeting took place with the approval of then-Deputy National Security Advisor Stephen Hadley. The meeting concerned a secret offer from reportedly dissident Iranian officials to provide information relevant to the War on Terrorism and Iran's relationship with terrorists in Afghanistan. Jump to: navigation, search 2001: A Space Odyssey. ... Jump to: navigation, search In law, treason is the crime of disloyalty to ones nation. ... Jump to: navigation, search City motto: Senatus Populusque Romanus – SPQR (The Senate and the People of Rome) Founded 21 April 753 BC mythical, 1st millennium BC Region Latium Mayor Walter Veltroni (Left-Wing Democrats) Area  - City Proper  1290 km² Population  - City (2004)  - Metropolitan  - Density (city proper) 2,546,807 almost... // Overview The Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA), designated in 1986 as a United States Department of Defense combat support intelligence agency was established in 1961. ... Lawrence Anthony Franklin is a U.S. Air Force Reserve colonel charged with passing information about U.S. policy towards Iran to Israel through the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC), the foremost pro-Israel lobbying organization in the U.S, while he was working for the Defense Department. ... Jump to: navigation, search SISMI (Servizio per le Informazioni e la Sicurezza Militare/Military Intelligence and Security Service) is the military intelligence agency of Italy. ... The American Enterprise Institute for Public Policy Research is a think tank founded in 1943 whose stated mission is to support the foundations of freedom - limited government, private enterprise, vital cultural and political institutions, and a strong foreign policy and national defense. ... The Undersecretary of Defense for Policy is the title of a high-level civilian official in the United States Department of Defense. ... Jump to: navigation, search Douglas Feith Douglas J. Feith (born July 16, 1953) served as the Under Secretary of Defense for Policy for United States President George W. Bush from July 2001 until he resigned from his position effective August 8, 2005. ... The Office of Special Plans, which existed from September, 2002, to June, 2003, was a Pentagon unit created by Donald Rumsfeld and led by William Luti, to handle Iraq and Iran policy. ... The Assistant to the President for National Security Affairs, commonly referred to as the National Security Advisor, serves as the chief advisor to the President of the United States on national security issues. ... Stephen J. Hadley, Assistant to the President For National Security Affairs in George W. Bushs second term administration. ... Jump to: navigation, search Osama bin Laden. ... Jump to: navigation, search The term terrorism is largely synonymous with political violence, and refers to a strategy of using coordinated attacks that typically fall outside the time, manner of conduct, and place commonly understood as representing the bounds of conventional warfare. ...

In June 2002, officials of the Department of Defense met with Ghorbanifar and Iranian officials in Paris, France, without approval from the White House or other relevant Executive agencies. It is unclear if the other Iranians were actually MEK members. Jump to: navigation, search 2002(MMII) is a common year starting on Tuesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... The United States Department of Defense, abbreviated as DoD or DOD and sometimes called the Defense Department is a civilian Cabinet organization of the United States government. ... Jump to: navigation, search The Eiffel Tower has become a symbol of Paris throughout the world. ... The Executive Office of the President consists of the immediate staff of the President of the United States, as well as multiple levels of support staff. ...

Summer 2003 news reports of the meetings prompted an internal review, as well as an investigation by the U.S. Senate Intelligence Committee. Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld described the meetings as, "There wasn't anything there that was of substance or of value that needed to be pursued further." News reports also indicated the Ghorbanifar sought to be paid for the middleman role. Jump to: navigation, search 2003 (MMIII) is a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... The United States Senate Select Committee on Intelligence is a select committee of the United States Senate dedicated to overseeing the American Intelligence Community—the agencies and bureaus of the U.S. federal government who provide information and analysis for leaders of the executive and legislative branches. ... The United States Secretary of Defense is the head of the United States Department of Defense, concerned with the armed services and The Secretary is a member of the Presidents Cabinet. ... Jump to: navigation, search Donald Henry Rumsfeld (born July 9, 1932) has been the Secretary of Defense of the United States since January 20, 2001, under President George W. Bush. ...

Subsequent contacts with Ghorbanifar were abandoned.

Manucher Ghorbanifar has emerged as the probable origin of the information cited by Congressman Curt Weldon's book, Countdown to Terror: The Top-Secret Information that Could Prevent the Next Terrorist Attack on America... and How the CIA has Ignored it (Regnery Publishing, June 2005) ISBN: 0895260050. Weldon cites an anonymous source, "Ali," believed to be Fereidoun Mahdavi, a former Iranian minister of commerce before the Iranian Revolution who is a close associate of Ghorbanifar. A Congressman or Congresswoman (generically, Congressperson) is a politician who is a member of a Congress. ... Jump to: navigation, search Curt Weldon (born July 22, 1947) is an American politician. ... Unfit for Command, published by Regnery Publishing. ... Jump to: navigation, search 2005 (MMV) is a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Jump to: navigation, search Protestors take to the street in support of Ayatollah Khomeini. ...

External links

• Michael Ledeen, "Truth About Ghorbanifar", with reply by Theodore H. Draper. New York Times Book Review 36, no. 7, 27 April 1989.
• "Regime Change in Iran? One Man's Secret Plan". Newsweek, 22 December 2002.
• "Arms dealer in talks with US officials about Iran". Sydney Morning Herald, 9 August 2003.
• Michael Ledeen, "Iran-contra Revisited?". National Review, 14 August 2003.
• Laura Rozen and Jeet Heer, "The Front". The American Prospect, 1 April 2005.
• Dana Priest, "Lawmaker's Book Warns of Iran". Washington Post, 9 June 2005: A08.
• Laura Rozen, "Curt Weldon's Deep Throat". The American Prospect, 10 June 2005.