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[vc_row][vc_column][vc_video link=”https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=zs3vx35Rdac”][vc_column_text]Welcome to Iran: The Untold Story. Here, we take a close look at Iran\u2019s role in supporting international terrorism, its pursuit of nuclear weapons, its systematic massacring and imprisoning of political opponents, and the ongoing efforts of dissidents, including Iranian-American interest groups<\/strong>, to bring freedom, equality, and lasting change to Iran.<\/p>\n

Iran: The Untold Story \u2013 Part One<\/u><\/strong>
\nApril 25, 2019<\/strong><\/p>\n

June 1996. Terrorists attack the Khobar Towers housing complex in Saudi Arabia. Nineteen U.S. Air Force personnel are killed; hundreds of others are seriously injured.<\/p>\n

President Bill Clinton vows swift revenge. \u201cWe will not rest in our efforts to find who is responsible for this outrage, to pursue them and to punish them.\u201d<\/p>\n

One of the key on-scene investigators was FBI Agent Bassem Youssef.<\/p>\n

Yousef: \u201cOf the day, it was sort of the mini 9\/11. That was a huge, huge, attack to our military.\u201d<\/p>\n

Youssef says the FBI learned quickly who was to blame.
\nYoussef: \u201cI would say Iran\u2019s fingerprints were all over this attack, this terrorist attack. And it didn\u2019t take too long for us to come up with that, with that conclusion.\u201d<\/p>\n

The investigators were aided, in part, by detailed intelligence made public by the main Iranian opposition group, the National Council of Resistance of Iran.<\/p>\n

But top Clinton deputies start to downplay Iran\u2019s role.<\/p>\n

Youssef: \u201cIt became very clear in a very short period of time that political considerations trumped the investigation.\u201d<\/p>\n

While Clinton publicly blamed Saudi-based militants, he sent this secret cable to Iran stating that the US had \u201ccredible evidence\u201d that Iran and local terrorists were \u201cdirectly involved\u201d in the attack.<\/p>\n

Louis Freeh, FBI director in \u201996, was frustrated Iran was not held accountable.<\/p>\n

Years later, at a speech in D.C., he called out the Clinton Administration for putting politics first.<\/p>\n

Youssef: \u201cThey did not want to confront the fact and the reality that the Iranian government had murdered 19 Americans and blown up Khobar Towers.\u201d<\/p>\n

In April 2019, the Trump Administration officially listed the IRGC\u2014the Iranian military group behind the Khobar attack\u2013as a foreign terrorist organization.<\/p>\n

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo: \u201cI am announcing our intent to designate the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, including its Qods Force, as a foreign terrorist organization in accordance with Section 219 of the Immigration and Nationality Act. Last September, a federal court in the United States found Iran and the IRGC responsible for the 1996 Khobar Towers bombing which killed 19 American service members. For 40 years, the Islamic Republic\u2019s Revolutionary Guard Corps has actively engaged in terrorism and created, supported, and directed other terrorist groups. This historic step will deprive the world\u2019s leading state sponsor of terror the financial means to spread misery and death around the world.\u201d<\/p>\n

Interview Part:<\/strong><\/p>\n

BUCK SEXTON:\u00a0And we\u2019re joined now by the former FBI agent you saw in that piece, Bassem Youssef.\u00a0 Thank you so much for joining us, Bassem.\u00a0 Good to see you.<\/p>\n

YOUSSEF:\u00a0Thank you, [0:03:57].\u00a0 Good to be here.<\/p>\n

BUCK SEXTON: So, as lead investigator in the Khobar Towers attack, how strong was the evidence that the Iranians were the ones that were responsible?<\/p>\n

YOUSSEF:\u00a0Well, it really didn\u2019t take much time.\u00a0 I would say within the first three or four months of arriving in Saudi Arabia in 1996 with cooperation with the Saudis and other governments, it was very clear that from the get-go, Iran\u2019s fingerprints were all over this attack.<\/p>\n

BUCK SEXTON:\u00a0And why didn\u2019t President Clinton more aggressively pursue Iran then for its complicity or its direction of this attack?<\/p>\n

YOUSSEF:\u00a0You know, if you recall back in that\u2014at that time [0:04:38] that the President had promised that we would, meaning the U.S. would retaliate militarily against any country that sponsored this act of terror.\u00a0 For some reason or another, when that was the result of the investigation, I believe the President just had other political reasons for not wanting to pursue that, that result.<\/p>\n

BUCK SEXTON: And how frustrating was the situation for you as the FBI\u2019s legal attach\u00e9 on the ground in Saudi Arabia?<\/p>\n

YOUSSEF: Well, the entire FBI, and I believe the entire intelligence community and many, many agents who worked tireless long hours to actually work this investigation to come up with the result that we came up with which was Iran\u2019s involvement, to see that that gets relegated to the sidelines or ignored was extremely frustrating and very upsetting to a lot of agents who have worked this case.<\/p>\n

BUCK SEXTON:\u00a0Were the Saudis reliable partners in that process?\u00a0 Did they seem as motivated as you and your FBI colleagues were to get to the bottom of this?<\/p>\n

YOUSSEF:\u00a0The Saudi mabahith and the GID, the General Intelligence Directorate, sort of the equivalent of the FBI and CIA, cooperated fully.\u00a0 We had great relations with them, and I say that they cooperated as good as can be.<\/p>\n

BUCK SEXTON:\u00a0And in terms of the actual forensics involved in investigation, the details that you had to pull together, was this something that, you know, were there some early hurdles in that process that you were able to- were there some, you know, breakthrough moments that you saw?\u00a0 I mean at what point did you realize, \u201cWow, okay, we now have the hard evidence we need to know that the Iranian government\u2019s hand was all over this.\u201d<\/p>\n

YOUSSEF:\u00a0Sure.\u00a0 So, obviously, when we started this investigation, even before working the liaison aspect of it with the Saudi counterparts, we had a team, again, of dedicated agents who worked to sift through the sand in Iran to look for evidence, for example, one of the most important pieces was a partial VIN of the Mercedes Benz truck that was used in the explosion.\u00a0 That was an important piece.\u00a0 And as we tracked that to see where it came from, it did come from Iran, and so that\u2019s just one tidbit of many other pieces of intelligence and evidence that we found that points to Iran.<\/p>\n

BUCK SEXTON:\u00a0What was the motivation for the Iranians, in terms of their involvement in this specific attack?\u00a0 We know the Iranian government hates America, hates Israel, hates the West, but was this in specific retaliation for something?\u00a0 Did we ever get a sense as to why they would go\u2014why would the Iranians go after Americans in Saudi Arabia?<\/p>\n

YOUSSEF:\u00a0I would imagine maybe just, I mean we don\u2019t have any specific answer to that meaning.\u00a0 We never really talked to any Iranian official to tell us what their reason or motivation behind it is, but obviously, if this would be a way for them to get us, get the U.S. military out of Saudi Arabia as a buffer between Iran and Saudi Arabia that could have been one of the reasons.<\/p>\n

BUCK SEXTON:\u00a0And what role did the Iranian opposition groups play in terms of Khobar Towers?\u00a0 And did they provide reliable information to the FBI?\u00a0 Were they a part of getting accountability for the Iranian regime?<\/p>\n

YOUSSEF:\u00a0Throughout this investigation, we rely on various sources, and some of them could be the opposition groups, in particular, against Iran.\u00a0 So, I would say, yes, we\u2019ve received good information from various sources, including some opposition groups.<\/p>\n

BUCK SEXTON:\u00a0And tell me about the role that the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps, the IRGC, may have played in this attack.<\/p>\n

YOUSSEF: The IRGC is basically known to be the military arm, the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps.\u00a0 They are the ones who are behind just about virtually every attack, every terrorist attack that was sponsored by Iran.\u00a0 That is their main job, basically, to sponsor these acts of terror.<\/p>\n

BUCK SEXTON:\u00a0And tell me about the Trump administration\u2019s recent decision to designate the IRGC as a terrorist organization.\u00a0Is this the right move?\u00a0 And if it\u2019s the right move, how could that help going forward to deter terrorist attacks by the Iranian state?<\/p>\n

YOUSSEF:\u00a0Well, I think it\u2019s about time, because it means that the entire intelligence community, the government, not just our government, but other governments would hopefully follow suit by highlighting the fact that we have a group now that we should be looking at within the Iranian government.\u00a0 So, I think it\u2019s about time.\u00a0 I think it\u2019s a good move.<\/p>\n

BUCK SEXTON:\u00a0Now, do you think that we achieved some measure of justice after the investigation of the attack at Khobar Towers?\u00a0 Have there been any consequences for the Iranian regime?<\/p>\n

YOUSSEF:\u00a0The Department of Justice was able to have indictments and conviction on the individuals who perpetrated this attack.\u00a0I think there could be actually more in terms of maybe restitution.\u00a0 I mean for example, the JASTA that was just approved recently, the Justice Against state Sponsors of Terrorism Act, that would allow for a civil litigation against countries that sponsor this act of terror.\u00a0 As a matter of fact, just recently, in 2018, last year, there was an award, a monetary award ordered by a federal judge against Iran specifically for being complicit and actually assisting the terrorists to go through Iran without having their passports checked.\u00a0 And I believe that award is over 10 billion dollars.<\/p>\n

BUCK SEXTON: Do you think that the West and America, if there\u2019s a willingness to hold Iran accountable for its support of terror and to be more aggressive in response to terrorist acts like the one that you investigate in the future, could that help not just deter Iranian aggression, but also bring about meaningful change in the Iranian state?<\/p>\n

YOUSSEF:\u00a0I would certainly hope that would be the case.\u00a0 If they\u2014if the Iranian government senses enough pressure, not just from the U.S., but from the world at large, that they may at least be more careful in what they do and maybe curb some of the terrorist attacks that they would try to perpetrate in the future.<\/p>\n

BUCK SEXTON:\u00a0Bassem Youssef, thank you so much for joining us.\u00a0 We appreciate it.<\/p>\n

YOUSSEF:\u00a0Thank you.[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][\/vc_row]<\/p>\n<\/section>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"[vc_row][vc_column][vc_video link=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=zs3vx35Rdac\"][vc_column_text]Welcome to Iran: The Untold Story. 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