June 22, 2018
After 17 years as president of the National Iranian American Council (NIAC), Trita Parsi has announced his retirement. He will be succeeded by Jamal Abdi, who is now NIAC’s vice president for policy.
Parsi said he was leaving NIAC “to focus more on the US’s broader foreign policy in the Middle East.”
The changing of the guard will officially take place Aug, 1..
Parsi was one of the founders of NIAC in 2002. He said it had a starting budget of just $60,000, which has now grown to more than $2 million with a mailing list of more than 70,000 people.
Parsi and NIAC have been controversial within the Iranian-American community. It bills itself as an organization promoting the interests of the Iranian-American community. But many critics feel it is too close to the regime and accuse it of shilling for the Islamic Republic.
