(Free Beacon) A senior Pentagon official on Thursday said his office is reviewing top-secret security access for another official alleged to be part of a secret Iranian government-run propaganda network, marking an about-face from an initial defense offered earlier in the week.
Ariane Tabatabai, a senior Pentagon official with top-secret security clearance, was outed in a Semafor report this week as an alleged member of an Iranian-run influence network that reported back to Tehran’s foreign ministry and helped push its policies among Washington policymakers. Tabatabai’s alleged links to the organization prompted a congressional probe and calls among Republicans for her security clearance to be yanked.
The Pentagon, in comments to the Washington Free Beacon Tuesday, defended Tabatabai, claiming she was “thoroughly and properly vetted as a condition of her employment.”
