Anti-Iran Vermin Crawl Out Of USAID “Ball Of Worms”

Waseem Shehzad

Ramadan 01, 1446 2025-03-01

News & Analysis

by Waseem Shehzad (News & Analysis, Crescent International Vol. 55, No. 1, Ramadan, 1446)

It is almost certain that Donald Trump did not create the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) to expose the anti-Iran agents financed by the US Agency for International Development (USAID). The new federal agency’s primary purpose is stated to be to slash government waste.

Yet the light it has shined on USAID funding of individuals, groups and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) exposed a lot of vermin, none more criminal than the ones presented by mainstream western media outlets as Iranian ‘pro-democracy human rights activists’. The very title, USAID, gives the impression as if the US is in the business of dispensing charity and goodness around the world. It is anything but. Elon Musk, the head of BOGE described USAID as “a ball of worms.”

Behind its friendly-sounding name, the agency acts as a front for CIA. The US spy agency has a gory record of assassinations and coups against foreign leaders viewed as acting too independent of US diktats. Instead, in the name of spreading democracy and protecting human rights, USAID operates through such other US agencies as the National Endowment for Democracy (NED).

Lest anyone gets the impression that NED supports the promotion of democracy or human rights, they should think again. It specialises in colour revolutions, ie, overthrowing legitimately established governments in other countries. Such acts are contrary to international law. The US—and its surrogate, the zionist entity—however, has never been constrained by legality or morality. Both the US and Israel are outlaw regimes.

One of NED’s co-founders, Allen Weinstein candidly confessed in an interview with the Washington Post, as early as September 1991, “A lot of what we do today was done covertly 25 years ago by the CIA.” Let it be clear: the CIA specializes in coups, assassination of foreign leaders and drug running, among many other illegal activities.

The Islamic Republic of Iran has been one of the primary targets of US destabilization campaigns. Even before the Islamic revolution succeeded in February 1979, the US tried to organize a military coup but it was too late. The CIA had carried out a coup against the government of Prime Minister Mohammed Mussadeq in August 1953. Iran’s revolutionary leaders led by Imam Khomeini were fully alert to this possibility and did not allow it to succeed again.

This does not mean that the US gave up. In the 46 years since the Islamic revolution, the US has indulged in every criminal act against the Islamic Republic—assassination of leading figures, freezing of its assets, sanctions, wars and a relenless campaign of sabotage by supporting terrorists.

Information that has come to light since USAID files were opened has revealed that through the NED, thousands of journalists (6200) and their front organizations have received millions of dollars in funding. These include many Iranians who have been projected as ‘journalists’ and ‘human rights activists’.

Two names in particular stand out: Maziar Bahari and Narges Mohammadi. Bahari operated under the cover of working for the American magazine, Newsweek. His other hat was that of a ‘film-maker’.

Mohammadi was an unknown figure who was thrust into international limelight when she was given the Nobel Peace Prize. Suddenly she was catapulated to international celebrity status and projected as a champion of human rights!

Bahari was arrested in June 2009 following Iran’s 2009 presidential elections. Protests broke out when members of the Green movement disputed the results. Bahari was seen with the protesters instigating them to riot and indulge in arson attacks on banks, buses and police stations.

He exaggerated the rioters numbers as well as provided extensive coverage of arson attacks presenting them as ‘proof’ that the revolution was ‘unpopular’ and about to be toppled.

Many people in Iran were convinced that the Green movement had been infiltrated by paid US agents with the aim of subverting the Islamic Republic. A similar situation emerged following the death of Mahsa Amini in September 2022.

Upon his release in October 2009, the CBC interviewed Bahari presenting him as an ‘Iranian-Canadian journalist’. The Canadian label presumably entitled him to extra privileges not afforded to others. Both the US State department and the Canadian government lobbied for his release. Was the CBC unaware that Bahari was being paid by USAID through the NED?

Who is Maziar Bahari? Is he really a journalist or a western asset and spy working to advance the US regime change agenda in Iran? Let there be no mistake; the US is an avowed enemy of the Islamic Repubic.

Successive regimes in Washington have financed and armed terrorist groups and even instigated countries to attack the Islamic Republic. The aim has been to subvert and overthrow the Islamic government. All these attempts have failed but it was not for lack of trying.

From 2009 to 2023, Bahari’s organization, Journalism for Change, Inc., received a staggering $19 million in funding from USAID. Not surprisingly, the Obama regime was so keen to secure his release and promote him. It would be more appropriate to name his organization, Journalism for Regime Change in Iran! This subversive outfit enjoys tax exempt status in the US!

The Obama regime and others used Bahari for anti-Iran activities. He held meetings with Hillary Clinton when she was Secretary of State, as well as William Burns. The latter was involved in nuclear talks with Iran at the time.

Jon Stewart—an Obama supporter—directed Rosewater, a 2014 Hollywood film about Bahari’s detention in Tehran to malign the Islamic Repubic. This led to Bahari being interviewed by Shorenstein Center on Media, Politics and Public Policy at the Harvard Kennedy School. The theme was: “Journalism is not a crime”. It is, if it is funded by USAID to subvert a legitimate government in another country.

Would Jon Stewart make a film about the hundreds of Guantanamo Bay detainees who suffered horrible torture at the hands of sadistic US guards? Of the 680 people who were locked up in that torture chamber since January 2002, at least 27 are still there. The 653 people released from Guantanamo were completely innocent, unlike Bahari.

Would the CBC consider making a documentary about any of them? One of them was Omar Khadr, a 15-year-old child shot twice in the back by American occupation forces in Afghanistan in July 2002. He suffered horrible torture despite his injuries. The sadistic American guards took pleasure in torturing him.

Even the Canadian government did not care for one of its own. Khadr was born in Canada; Bahari became a Canadian citizen later. So, why the different treatment: Khadr, a completely innocent child, was shunned and abandoned to the non-existent mercies of the Americans while Bahari was and is lionize?