The Islamic Republic of Iran sanctioned FDD and CEO Mark Dubowitz (in 2019). Senior Advisor Richard Goldberg (in 2020), China Program Chairman Matthew Pottinger and Senior Fellow Reuel Marc Gerecht (in Jan. 2022), and Chairman of FDD’s Center on Economic and Financial Power Juan Zarate (in Oct. 2022). The regime has called FDD “the designing and executing arm of the U.S. administration” on Iran policy, and in a clear threat, stated that “taking any actions by the judicial and security apparatuses against the FDD and their Iranian and non-Iranian accomplices will be considered legitimate as their actions are against Iran’s national security and the interests of Iranian people and government.”
Iran’s Fars News—a wire service affiliated with the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps—then outlined how targeting FDD’s Iranian employees could be more effective and called for “punishing” FDD’s Saeed Ghasseminejad, and Behnam Ben Taleblu. “Just as Ruhollah Zam [Iranian journalist sentenced to death] and Jamshid Sharmahd [opposition figure arrested in Iran] are currently waiting to be brought to justice,” the threat reads, FDD’s Iranian personnel “should not be immune from sanctions and punishment.”
In May 2022, the Russian Federation sanctioned FDD Chief Executive Mark Dubowitz, the chairs of our Center on Military and Political Power LTG (Ret.) H.R. McMaster and Center on Economic and Financial Power Juan Zarate, as well as FDD advisors Daniel Glaser and Paula Dobriansky. These FDD experts were designated alongside other prominent national security and business professionals in response to American efforts to hold Moscow accountable for its war in Ukraine.
We take these threats very seriously and are in close communication with several law enforcement and national security agencies. We are also actively assessing our security protocols and taking all prudent measures to ensure the protection of our personnel, facilities, and networks.
Given the ongoing threats we face, it is clear that FDD needs to do much more to bolster and maintain its overall security. The goal of “FDD’s Security Fund” is to cover costs for increased protective intelligence, training, travel security, hardening of infrastructure, and IT upgrades.