Ebrahim Yazdi and Sadeq Qotbzadeh

To Whom It May Concern:

Pursuant to the Freedom of Information Act, I hereby request the following records:

Records mentioning, relating to, or generated as a result of investigation or inquiry into Iranian politician Ebrahim Yazdi (26 September 1931 – 27 August 2017). His death is widely-known and widely reported, including by the U.S. government's own Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (https://www.rferl.org/a/ebrahim-yazdi-iran-ayatollah-dissident-revolution-shah-dies/28699708.html). As such, privacy concerns under FOIA Exemptions 6 and 7 are voided, as are any concerns under the Privacy Act.

Records mentioning, relating to, or generated as a result of investigation or inquiry into the Muslim Students' Association of America co-founded by Yazdi.

Records mentioning, relating to, or generated as a result of investigation or inquiry into Iranian politician Sadeq Qotbzadeh, also spelled Sadegh Ghotbzadeh (24 February 1936 – 15 September 1982). His death is widely-known and widely reported, and was even the subject of a February 2020 documentary by BBC Persian; as such, privacy concerns under FOIA Exemptions 6 and 7 are voided, as are any concerns under the Privacy Act.

Yazdi was born in Qazvin, Iran on 26 September 1931. Qotbzadeh was born in Isfahan, Iran in 1936. Both were active in underground movements after 1953, including the underground National Resistance Movement of Iran and Freedom Movement of Iran.

Qotbzadeh immigrated to the United States in 1959, and attended Georgetown University's Walsh School of Foreign Service from 1959 to 1963. He participated in student protests against the Iranian government, and stormed a party held by Ardeshir Zadehi, then-Iranian ambassador in Washington. Soviet defector Vladimir Kuzichkin later claimed in his 1991 book, Inside the KGB: Myth and Reality, that Qotbzadeh had been an agent of Soviet military intelligence during this time.

Yazdi immigrated to the United States in 1961. He enrolled in the Baylor College of Medicine in Texas in 1967. Yazdi received a PhD in biochemistry and continued to work at Baylor College of Medicine as a research assistant of pathology and research instructor of pharmacology until 1977. Yazdi became a naturalized US citizen in Houston in 1971.

Qotbzadeh, Yazdi, and Iranian-American scientist Mostafa Chamran traveled to Egypt in December 1963 establish an Iranian anti-government group called the Special Organization for Unity and Action (SAMA). Qotbzadeh also spent time in Algeria, Syria, Iraq, and Lebanon, and trained alongside Palestinian militants.

Qotbzadeh and Yazdi became close aides to the Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, who was then in exile in Paris, in 1978. They all participated in the overthrow of the Iranian government and the establishment of the Islamic Republic of Iran.

Qotbzadeh translated for Khomeini at several press conferences and was appointed to the Council of the Islamic Revolution in 1979. He became foreign minister from November 1979 to August 1980, and unsuccessfully ran for President of Iran in 1980. Ghotbzadeh was arrested in April 1982 on charges of plotting to overthrow the new Iranian government, and was executed in September of that year.

Yazdi was elected to the parliament of Iran from 1980 to 1984. (His U.S. citizenship had been revoked by then.) He fell out of grace with the Islamic Republic and was barred from running for office in subsequent elections. Yazdi was arrested on unknown charges in December 1997 and several times again in 2009 and 2020.

Please conduct a search of the Central Records System, including but not limited to the Electronic Surveillance (ELSUR) Indices, the Microphone Surveillance (MISUR) Indices, the Physical Surveillance (FISUR) Indices, and the Technical Surveillance (TESUR) Indices, for both main-file records and cross-reference records of both HQ and all field offices for all relevant names, agencies, organizations, companies and events including but not limited to those cited in the previous paragraphs and/or links as well as a cross-reference with the Southern Poverty Law Center to include any information provided by the SPLC. My request includes but is not limited to 137, 157, 176, 177, 183, 184, 188, and 214 files. If previously released records are available, then I request a rolling release consisting of those records while additional records are located and processed for release.

If any part of these documents are exempt from disclosure, please be sure to review and release all reasonably segregable nonexempt portions of responsive documents, as the FOIA requires.

I request that I be properly classified as a media requester. I am an investigative journalist who has written numerous articles on topics of public interest for the Daily Beast, the Asia Times, Responsible Statecraft, the National Interest, Reason Magazine, America Magazine and the Armenian Weekly, and I am requesting these documents in an editorial capacity. Please contact me if you have any questions about my media status.

The requested documents will be made available to the general public, and this request is not being made for commercial purposes.

In the event that there are fees, I would be grateful if you would inform me of the total charges in advance of fulfilling my request. I would prefer the request filled electronically, by e-mail attachment if available or CD-ROM if not.

Thank you in advance for your anticipated cooperation in this matter. I look forward to receiving your response to this request within 20 business days, as the statute requires.

Sincerely,

Matthew Petti

To whom this may concern:

Thank you for your prompt response to my December 22, 2020 request number 1484136-000 for documents regarding Sadeq Qotbzadeh. I look forward to your response to my other December 22, 2020 request number 1484112-000 regarding Ebrahim Yazdi.

Best regards,
Matthew

Hi,

Thanks so much for your help with this request! I really appreciate it.

Sincerely,
Matthew Petti