TEHRAN ON THE AIR: ABC NEWS PLATFORMS IRANIAN REGIME APOLOGISTS WITHOUT CHALLENGE

By: Jennifer Kouzi March 11, 2026

The ABC Newsroom has now uncritically platformed two pro-Iranian regime mouthpieces, one of them a lobbyist, numerous times since the beginning of U.S.-Israeli military operations in Iran on Feb. 28, 2026.

Trita Parsi has long been known to “say anything to safeguard Iran’s and Iranian interests,” including as president and founder of the National Iranian American Council (NIAC) – though he is not American. NIAC, considered the Iranian regime’s de facto lobby, is alleged to have been created by former Iranian foreign minister Javad Zarif to improve U.S.-Iran relations. Born in Iran but raised in Sweden, Parsi is also a co-founder and executive vice president of the Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft. The Quincy Institute advocates for Iranian and Qatari interests in the U.S. and is opposed by Iranian human rights activists in the diaspora.

At a bare minimum, Parsi has shown himself repeatedly to be an Iranian regime apologist, but recent evidence suggests he is a full-fledged Iranian lobbyist.

In court proceedings over a decade ago, Parsi disputed NIAC was an illegal lobby for the Iranian government when he unsuccessfully sued for libel. Inside Iran, however, there is no question. In late January 2026, on an Iranian political debate show, NIAC and Parsi were lambasted for their poor performance in lobbying [to see English translation, watch on X and turn on closed captioning]:

Negar Mortazavi is the other “Iran expert” platformed by ABC News. Formerly of NIAC, she is currently a senior fellow at the Center for International Policy and editor and host of The Iran Podcast, which includes clips of her regime apologist positions, including deflecting a question on the brutal crackdown on Iranian protestors in January 2026.

On the first day of the U.S.-Israeli military operation in Iran, Feb. 28, 2026, Parsi appeared on ABC News Live. When asked for his opinion on the impact of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei’s death, Parsi first said it was important to note that the Iranians still denied his death, but that if true, the administration hoped this would make the “theocratic system as a whole” implode. Parsi interpreted President Trump’s Truth Social statement, including hope there would be defections from the IRGC, as Trump wanting a “quick exit out of this.” Parsi also said it was “very important for the American public to know that there was a deal on the table,” which is demonstrably false.

On Mar. 1, 2026, Parsi returned to ABC News Live and continued where he had left off in his first interview, stating there were plenty of opportunities to “grab a deal” and remarked that the Omani foreign minister relayed discussions between the U.S. and Iran about zero stockpiling of enriched uranium, which Parsi said would have been remarkably stronger than the 2015 Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action – JCPOA – entered into by President Obama. Parsi remarked that instead of taking that deal, Trump opted for a war path.

On Mar. 3, 2026, Parsi returned to ABC News to advance the Iranian talking point that the “plan for this war has come crashing down” and to blame Israel for sabotaging diplomacy and pushing the U.S. into the war. Despite President Trump’s statements to the contrary, Parsi interpreted Secretary Rubio’s comments – when the Secretary initially said the U.S. knew there would be an Israeli action which would precipitate an attack against American forces – to mean the U.S. allowed Israel to determine when the U.S. would go to war and put U.S. troops at risk, “instead of saying no to Israel.” Parsi further commented that for the last 30 years, Israel has made sure relations between the U.S. and Iran did not improve so that the U.S. would remain squarely on Israel’s side. Parsi accused Netanyahu of having sabotaged diplomacy throughout the years and said Netanyahu was on record saying he was the reason President Trump exited the JCPOA.

The network hosted Parsi a fourth time on Mar. 7, 2026, during which time he brushed aside President Trump’s statements that the war was going well, absurdly arguing if that were the case the war would have been over by now, and enhanced his prior comments on the network by saying the U.S. had “lost control” and that things were getting increasingly closer to a “quagmire” – notably similar messaging to an X post by Iranian Foreign Minister Seyed Abbas Araghchi, two days prior, stating Iran’s army would ensure the war became a “quagmire.”) Finally, Parsi opined that were the Kurds to be armed by the U.S. and begin fighting, this would signal desperation on the part of the U.S., cause other countries to become involved and would also “dramatically increase the likelihood of rallying [Iranians] around the flag” – a talking point he previously shared with other pro-regime spokespeople to amplify Khamenei’s message.

On Mar. 8, 2026, Mortazavi appeared on ABC News Live. She greatly minimized both Iran’s nuclear and missile programs and in her attempt to contradict President Trump, falsely stated Iran’s missiles could not reach Europe, and could only go as far as Israel. She also alleged – without any evidence – that there had been “almost indiscriminate attacks [by the U.S. and Israel] on civilians,” said that the bombing was not giving “freedom” to Iranians, and argued that instead of seeing protests or regime change – as her co-propagandist Parsi also said – “in fact we’re seeing a rally around the flag from the public.”

There was no challenge to any statements by Parsi about Israel, which echoed Araghchi’s claims that America was putting “Israel First.”  Instead, ABC News allowed Parsi’s antisemitic trope that U.S. foreign policy is dictated by Israel to dangle, and also did not acknowledge that ABC News’ own reporting indicated President Trump campaigned prior to his first election on pulling the U.S. out of the JCPOA, calling the deal defective and horrible. There was also no acknowledgment by Parsi or Mortazavi – or pushback from ABC News – of or about the secret nuclear archive lifted by Israeli intelligence operatives in January 2018 which proved Iran had been lying about its nuclear program and hid it during the JCPOA negotiations.

ABC also had no retort to any of Parsi’s repeated statements about an available deal for the taking. Reports indicated that American officials understood the Iranians might have offered some “political wins” and concessions to the U.S. but were ultimately not willing to give up the building blocks of a bomb. Plus, Washington had three objectives in the negotiations, including cessation of support for proxy militias and dismantling the ballistic missile program – only one (the enriched uranium) was addressed by Oman and Parsi.

In neither Parsi’s nor Mortazavi’s interviews did either acknowledge Iran’s state sponsorship of terror, its arming and funding of proxy terrorist militia groups, or the number of their own people the Islamic Republic killed in recent months. Nether Parsi nor Mortazavi had a negative word to say about the regime. Parsi has also publicly opposed Iranians who want freedom from the Ayatollah’s oppression. In one example, he reposted a social media post that called Masih Alinejad, exiled Iranian activist who was the target of multiple Iranian assassination attempts on American soil, a “f-cking monster.”

Evidence of Parsi pushing actual regime talking points has been documented by various social media users, particularly similarities with Araghchi (who has been repeatedly invited on networks like NBC News and whose frequent talking point was that a deal with the Americans was within reach), Javad Zarif, Iranian diplomat, alleged creator of NIAC and recently resigned strategic foreign policy advisor to the Iranian president, and others (including the former Supreme Leader).

One Iranian account on X called “Historical Memory” compiled video clips of several so-called “Iran experts” repeating the same talking points from seven years ago – both Parsi and Mortazavi were included. Both Parsi and Mortazavi were among those who visited Iranian President Pezeshkian at his hotel during a stay in New York in September 2024.

Unsurprisingly, both are purveyors of the “genocide in Gaza” libel. Parsi has argued Israel is an apartheid state and was also agitated when Reza Pahlavi, the crown prince of Iran who has been in exile since 1979, spoke out against antisemitic terror after the November 2024 pogrom on Israeli soccer fans in Amsterdam. Additionally, Parsi has called for the American Israel Political Action Committee (AIPAC) to register as foreign agents. That AIPAC is a foreign lobby and should register as a foreign agent is a common myth advanced by its harshest critics; in reality, it is an American organization that represents over five million Americans, and 100% of its funding comes from American citizens. Parsi also argued the organization has driven war and chaos.

Mortazavi has also engaged in anti-Israel propaganda. She falsely alleged on X that Israel struck an elementary school on the first day of the current military operations in Iran – a claim she has yet to retract despite widespread agreement Israel was uninvolved.

It has been credibly alleged that several years ago, when Mortazavi found out those upset with her regime apologia intended to attend an event of hers, she lied about a bomb threat in order to move the event online so as to avoid them. About 13 months ago, Parsi was scheduled to speak at The German Institute for Global and Area Studies (GIGA). The Alliance against Mullah Appeasement protested his invitation, arguing that he obscured the reality of the regime’s crimes and enabled further repression. The talk was canceled.

ABC News should learn from GIGA. It should not be using anti-Israel, pro-Iranian regime mouthpieces as analysts for the military action taking place in Iran. Neither Parsi nor Mortazavi are disinterested “experts.” ABC’s frequent invitation of Parsi and recently of Mortazavi, without any challenge to their partisan statements, has turned the network into a platform for pro-regime propaganda.

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