The New York Sun is reporting that the Council on American Islamic Relations (CAIR), a part of the U.S. Muslim Brotherhood, is part of what the paper describes as “an unusual coalition of interest groups from left and right” working to prevent U.S. military action against Iran. According to the report:
An unusual coalition of interest groups from left and right is launching a drive today to head off an American military attack on Iran by pushing America into high-level negotiations with Tehran. The Campaign for a New American Policy on Iran, which bills itself as “transpartisan,” consists of more than three dozen organizations, most of them left-leaning, such as the American Friends Service Committee, the Institute for Policy Studies, and the Open Society Policy Center, which is backed by George Soros. However, the campaign also has the backing of a smattering of right-of-center groups, including the American Conservative Defense Alliance, the Libertarian Party, and the American Cause, which is headed by Patrick Buchanan….The campaign to push for direct talks with Iran’s mullahs is kicking off with a press conference this morning on Capitol Hill expected to feature the Libertarian nominee for president, Robert Barr, as well as several members of Congress, including Reps. Keith Ellison of Minnesota and Barbara Lee of California, both Democrats, and Rep. Ron Paul, who mounted a bid for this year’s Republican presidential nomination. Brandishing red telephones supposed to symbolize a hotline to Tehran, the group will urge supporters to call Congress and press for talks….Others involved in the talk-to-Iran campaign include a former CIA official, Philip Giraldi; a former adviser to President Reagan, Douglas Bandow; a former State Department official, Flynt Leverett, and the president and founder of the National Iranian American Council, Trita Parsi….Ms. Ong said the new campaign grew out of a meeting of liberals and conservatives in November 2007 at the headquarters of Americans for Tax Reform in Washington. A spokesman for that group said it was not involved in the Iran issue. The president of the American Conservative Defense Alliance, Michael Ostrolenk, said his group has office space in the building and borrowed the conference room for the session.
The website for the Campaign for a New American Policy on Iran confirms that CAIR is a member of the group.
CAIR had its origins in the Hamas infrastructure in the U.S. and has had numerous links to Hamas support organizations as well as actively working to defend that infrastructure against U.S. anti-terror efforts. Given the close ties between Iran and Hamas, it is not difficult to suggest a motivation for CAIR’s participation in this coalition.