Iran Preparing List of FDD Contributors to Be Blacklisted

“Under the law, the first batch of individuals working with the so-called Foundation for Defence of Democracies will soon be introduced to relevant institutions, including the Judiciary, to be added to the sanctions list,” said Seyyed Abbas Mousavi on Thursday.

“From Iran’s standpoint, this foundation is not considered a think tank at all; rather, it is an organization which, under the guise of being a think tank, keeps engineering and promoting economic terrorism and the US government’s hostile actions against Iranian people on a daily basis,” he said.

Mousavi said the foundation is the US administration’s operational and designing arm, and the United States takes most of its hostile actions against the Iranian nation based on the machinations of this foundation.

“The first list of individuals slapped with sanctions include people with different nationalities who considerably contribute to this foundation’s moves against Iranian people,” he noted.

On Saturday, Iran’s Foreign Ministry blacklisted the FDD and its director, Mark Dubowitz.

In its statement, the Foreign Ministry said the unilateral and illegal economic terrorism imposed by the US has been plotted and enforced with the objective of bringing about regime change in the Islamic Republic of Iran or affecting the Iranian government’s policies, decisions and measures, or even worse, harming Iran’s national and public security and damaging its independence, territorial integrity and national sovereignty.

It also lashed out at the FDD and Dubowitz for active involvement in designing, imposing and intensifying the impacts of economic terrorism against Iran.

The Foundation for Defence of Democracies (FDD) is a policy institute based in Washington, DC, focusing on national security and foreign policy. Its political leanings have been described variously as nonpartisan, hawkish and neoconservative.