The Iranian regime is funneling money and its influence into anti-Israel college campus protests across the US, often through buzzily named organizations — and many who join the protests don’t realize who is really behind them.
For example, Texas-based Rise Against Oppression (RAO) says it is a “collective of Muslim grassroots activists” but downplays its links to the government of Iran.
In April, members of with the group “reclaimed” a student center at Houston University, a school of more than 45,000 students.
“As part of the nation wide call to establish the Popular University [of Palestine], we are reclaiming our spaces to push divestment,” said Houston for Palestine Liberation, part of the RAO collective, in a social media post.
In Houston, the Iranian regime is directly involved in funding religious activities at the university and throughout the city, according to Sam Westrop, director of Middle East Forum’s Islamist Watch project.
“For decades, the Iranian regime has worked closely with far-Left, far-Right and Islamist groups across Europe and North America,” Westrop said.
“Following the October 7th attacks…Tehran has poured money and logistical support into anti-Israel and pro-terror rallies, encampments and civil disorder.”
“We’ve uncovered evidence of this in Houston, where the Iranian regime appears to operate mosques, activist and student groups that are deeply involved in pro-terror demonstrations, alongside Beijing-backed and Hamas-aligned groups,” he said.
RAO also sponsored a conference on Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, former Iranian leader and founder of the Islamic Republic of Iran after the 1979 revolution, according to its Instagram page.
One of the speakers at the conference was Muzzamil Zaidi, a Houston-based, Pakistan-American imam.
Exposing a literal paper trail, he pleaded guilty alongside another defendant in April to participating in an “illicit scheme” to collect “tens of thousands of dollars” from the US which was then to be transferred to the Supreme Leader of Iran by hand, according to the Department of Justice.
The money was collected from several imams in the US between 2018 and 2019 “purportedly to help victims of the ongoing civil war in Yemen,” but the cash was transported by travelers, in some cases religious pilgrims, directly to the office of the Supreme Leader in Tehran, according to the DOJ.
“With respect to the money collected in the United States, the defendants recruited others to carry the cash from the United States to Iran or Iraq (for eventual delivery to Iran) and caused the travelers to carry no more than $10,000 in order to avoid the filing of a Report of International Transportation of Currency or Monetary Instruments (CMIR) with United States Customs and Border Protection,” the federal complaint says.
The transfer of cash to or from Iran is illegal because of US sanctions on the country since 1995.
Last month, Avril Haines, Director of National Intelligence confirmed that Iran is financing some of the anti-Israel student protests in the US.
“Iranian government actors have sought to opportunistically take advantage of ongoing protests regarding the war in Gaza, using a playbook we’ve seen other actors use.
“We have observed actors tied to Iran’s government posing as activists online, seeking to encourage protests and even providing financial support to protestors,” Haines continued, adding that many of the targets of Iran’s clandestine operation are likely unaware that they are being influenced by Iran.
RAO also worked with Students for Justice in Palestine, who attempted to take over the same space at Houston University again this week, although university officials moved demonstrators to a common seating area.
“This university responds very, very quickly when we do things that they’re not comfortable with, like visibly having people wear keffiyehs or take up space,” Reyna Valdez, a 22-year-old student and organizer told the Houston Chronicle.
“They don’t respond very quickly when they’re [number] one, informed that they’re investing in genocide.”
SJP is a network of radical pro-Hamas and anti-Israel student groups who have spread their ideologies at university campuses across the country and organized encampments and anti-Israel protests after the Oct. 7 terror attacks on Israel last year which left 1,200 dead.
In a statement to The Post Thursday, a spokesman for the University of Houston said the school “is committed to fostering a learning environment where free inquiry and expression are encouraged and we support the constitutional rights of free speech and peaceful assembly.”
”We encourage all who engage in expressive activity to do so safely, consistent with university policies and in a manner that respects the rights of others with differing opinions,” the spokesman said.
An Iranian-American lawyer and popular TikToker previously blasted the lack of outrage against the oppressive Iranian regime in the US.
“In what capacity have you distorted the story to make the Islamic Republic the victim?” Elica Le Bon, a British-born, American-educated lawyer, asked “woke’’ Iran sympathizers in an anti-war TikTok video in April.
