[8][2][7] According to the reports, the thousands of emails describe an effort by Iran's Foreign Ministry "to improve Tehran's image abroad".
Iranian diplomat Saeed Khatibzadeh wrote a letter in 2014 to Mostafa Zahrani (head of Iran's Foreign Ministry think tank) saying that the core members of the IEI had been selected.
[2][7] House Armed Services Committee Chairman Mike Rogers expressed "deep concern with the Department [of Defense]'s hiring of Ariane Tabatabai".
[10] State Department spokesman Matt Miller said that the report "looked like an account of things that happened almost a decade ago", while Intelligence and Special Operations Subcommittee Chairman Jack Bergman said Tabatabai's "close ties" to the Iranian government "should disqualify her for a position in such a sensitive area as special operations and low-intensity conflict."
[13] Two weeks later, the Pentagon released a statement confirming that "Dr. Tabatabai was thoroughly and properly vetted" as a condition of her employment with the Department of Defense.