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In the dying days of the Biden administration, as the clock ticked inexorably toward the end of an era marked by moral equivocation and strategic retreat, a quiet but extraordinary transaction took place, one that ought to alarm anyone who still believes in the integrity of American sovereignty.
[H/T The Daily Wire.]
The government, in its final hours, entered into what can only be described as a sweetheart settlement with an entity long identified as a front for the Iranian regime. In exchange for what passes in certain quarters for "justice," the United States relinquished its claim to a $174 million interest in prime Manhattan real estate, property previously seized precisely because of its prohibited ties to a terror-sponsoring state.
This was no ordinary legal resolution. A federal court approved the agreement on January 17, 2025, a mere three days before the administration departed the scene. And in a further flourish of opacity, on March 11, 2026, Judge Loretta A. Preska agreed to “seal the Order in its entirety,” not only from the public but “from any litigant that is not a party to the Settlement Agreement.”
The terms, unearthed first by Jewish Insider through a routine filing with the New York State Charity Board on January 12, are as remarkable as they are disturbing. Assets are to be transferred to a successor entity, the Amir Kabir Foundation, which, by no coincidence, shares most of the same leadership as the Alavi Foundation. The latter, originally established under the Shah but swiftly commandeered after the 1979 revolution by hardline figures loyal to the Islamic Republic, has for years concealed its forbidden connections through layers of front organizations. As the DOJ stated plainly in its 2008 forfeiture action against Assa Corp., that entity was nothing more than an offshore shell employed by Alavi to mask its ties to Iran.
The settlement obliges payments or releases totaling $318 million to the United States and to victims of Iranian terror. Yet a majority of this sum is to be satisfied not through genuine contrition or independent funds, but through the government's own decision to return the 40% partnership interest in the Fifth Avenue Company previously held by Assa, an arm of Bank Melli, and now in U.S. hands. That interest, valued at $174 million, effectively becomes the vehicle for meeting the obligations. The Alavi Foundation, which retains $300 million in real estate holdings, including properties near the capital and the remaining 60% of the Fifth Avenue skyscraper, thus finds itself largely relieved of liability courtesy of a gift from the American taxpayer.
Rental income accumulated over nearly sixteen years of litigation, held in an account controlled by the U.S. Marshals Service, will help fund this arrangement. The New York Attorney General, Letitia James, has agreed to monitor the new foundation for five years, a thin reed of oversight in what is otherwise a remarkably lenient outcome.
Lara Burns, a former FBI agent and now head of terrorism research at George Washington University’s Program on Extremism, put the matter starkly to Jewish Insider:
“Allowing Alavi to obfuscate their identity and basically start with a clean slate creates risks related to a continued foreign influence campaign on behalf of a regime that has called for the death of U.S. leaders and who has blatantly stated its intent to cause America harm through a variety of nefarious activities.”
The foundation’s attorney, Daniel Ruzumna, offered the predictable defense: the board has turned over completely since the litigation began, the new entity’s leaders were vetted by the Biden-era Department of Justice (which raised no objection), and “AKF and its board members have no relationship to the Government of Iran.”
One might be forgiven for a certain skepticism. This is, after all, the same Alavi Foundation that funded the Manassas Mosque, thirty miles from the capital, which, following the killing of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei in Operation Epic Fury, held an event “Honoring Our Leader Shaheed Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.”
The government, in its final hours, entered into what can only be described as a sweetheart settlement with an entity long identified as a front for the Iranian regime. In exchange for what passes in certain quarters for "justice," the United States relinquished its claim to a $174 million interest in prime Manhattan real estate, property previously seized precisely because of its prohibited ties to a terror-sponsoring state.
This was no ordinary legal resolution. A federal court approved the agreement on January 17, 2025, a mere three days before the administration departed the scene. And in a further flourish of opacity, on March 11, 2026, Judge Loretta A. Preska agreed to “seal the Order in its entirety,” not only from the public but “from any litigant that is not a party to the Settlement Agreement.”
The terms, unearthed first by Jewish Insider through a routine filing with the New York State Charity Board on January 12, are as remarkable as they are disturbing. Assets are to be transferred to a successor entity, the Amir Kabir Foundation, which, by no coincidence, shares most of the same leadership as the Alavi Foundation. The latter, originally established under the Shah but swiftly commandeered after the 1979 revolution by hardline figures loyal to the Islamic Republic, has for years concealed its forbidden connections through layers of front organizations. As the DOJ stated plainly in its 2008 forfeiture action against Assa Corp., that entity was nothing more than an offshore shell employed by Alavi to mask its ties to Iran.
The settlement obliges payments or releases totaling $318 million to the United States and to victims of Iranian terror. Yet a majority of this sum is to be satisfied not through genuine contrition or independent funds, but through the government's own decision to return the 40% partnership interest in the Fifth Avenue Company previously held by Assa, an arm of Bank Melli, and now in U.S. hands. That interest, valued at $174 million, effectively becomes the vehicle for meeting the obligations. The Alavi Foundation, which retains $300 million in real estate holdings, including properties near the capital and the remaining 60% of the Fifth Avenue skyscraper, thus finds itself largely relieved of liability courtesy of a gift from the American taxpayer.
Rental income accumulated over nearly sixteen years of litigation, held in an account controlled by the U.S. Marshals Service, will help fund this arrangement. The New York Attorney General, Letitia James, has agreed to monitor the new foundation for five years, a thin reed of oversight in what is otherwise a remarkably lenient outcome.
Lara Burns, a former FBI agent and now head of terrorism research at George Washington University’s Program on Extremism, put the matter starkly to Jewish Insider:
“Allowing Alavi to obfuscate their identity and basically start with a clean slate creates risks related to a continued foreign influence campaign on behalf of a regime that has called for the death of U.S. leaders and who has blatantly stated its intent to cause America harm through a variety of nefarious activities.”
The foundation’s attorney, Daniel Ruzumna, offered the predictable defense: the board has turned over completely since the litigation began, the new entity’s leaders were vetted by the Biden-era Department of Justice (which raised no objection), and “AKF and its board members have no relationship to the Government of Iran.”
One might be forgiven for a certain skepticism. This is, after all, the same Alavi Foundation that funded the Manassas Mosque, thirty miles from the capital, which, following the killing of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei in Operation Epic Fury, held an event “Honoring Our Leader Shaheed Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.”
In 2023, nine Republican congressmen warned the Biden administration’s Attorney General and Director of National Intelligence that the mosque, having received $200,000 from Alavi, was displaying images of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and forming part of a network of regime-sponsored institutions acting as agents of a foreign adversary.
The mosque’s imam, Abolfazl Bahram Nahidian, once claimed Israel was behind 9/11 and is now reportedly in Iran; his daughter-in-law has been prominent in anti-Israel activism in Washington, posting images declaring that “Soon we will avenge (your death) from the Zionists and the Americans . . . They’ve dug their own graves.”
Recall the history: in 2017, a New York jury found the 36-story tower at 650 Fifth Avenue, worth at least $500 million, and other properties forfeitable as proceeds of Iran sanctions violations and money laundering. The Department of Justice called it “the largest terrorism-related civil forfeiture in United States history,” declaring that the building had “hiding in plain sight, secretly served as a front for the Iranian government and as a gateway for millions of dollars to be funneled to Iran in clear violation of U.S. sanctions laws.”
The mosque’s imam, Abolfazl Bahram Nahidian, once claimed Israel was behind 9/11 and is now reportedly in Iran; his daughter-in-law has been prominent in anti-Israel activism in Washington, posting images declaring that “Soon we will avenge (your death) from the Zionists and the Americans . . . They’ve dug their own graves.”
Recall the history: in 2017, a New York jury found the 36-story tower at 650 Fifth Avenue, worth at least $500 million, and other properties forfeitable as proceeds of Iran sanctions violations and money laundering. The Department of Justice called it “the largest terrorism-related civil forfeiture in United States history,” declaring that the building had “hiding in plain sight, secretly served as a front for the Iranian government and as a gateway for millions of dollars to be funneled to Iran in clear violation of U.S. sanctions laws.”
Alavi, the 60% owner, knew its minority partner was an Iranian front. Plans to sell the building and compensate victims were thwarted on appeal in 2019.
Earlier still, in 2009, Alavi’s then-head, Farshid Jahedi, was indicted for destroying subpoenaed documents. Under President Barack Obama, he received a notably lenient sentence: three months in prison and a $3,000 fine on two felony counts.
In response to revelations about the mosque, Rep. Keith Self (R-TX), a member of the Foreign Affairs Committee, declared: “The enemy is inside the gates.”
Rep. Randy Fine (R-FL) was blunter still: “We need to get them the hell out of our country.”
Earlier still, in 2009, Alavi’s then-head, Farshid Jahedi, was indicted for destroying subpoenaed documents. Under President Barack Obama, he received a notably lenient sentence: three months in prison and a $3,000 fine on two felony counts.
In response to revelations about the mosque, Rep. Keith Self (R-TX), a member of the Foreign Affairs Committee, declared: “The enemy is inside the gates.”
Rep. Randy Fine (R-FL) was blunter still: “We need to get them the hell out of our country.”
One might ask: what signal does this settlement send at a moment when the mullahs’ regime is at war, when its proxies and sympathizers operate openly on American soil, and when the United States has just lost a figure it once treated with kid gloves? The answer is depressingly clear: accommodation, obfuscation, and a willingness to trade strategic clarity for the quiet life. In the twilight of one administration, the foundations of influence were quietly re-laid, while the rest of us are left to wonder how many more such deals were sealed in the dark.
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