Case Studies

Recognizing the danger posed by Iran, FDD launched an ongoing campaign to ensure Iran’s vow to destroy Israel and create “a world without America” is, contrary to Ahmadinejad’s assertion, neither “obtainable” nor “achievable.”

By educating policy communities and the public both here and abroad about the deadly activities of the Iranian-Syrian- Hezbollah axis, FDD attacks its most vulnerable points: its worldwide media operations, its standing in the United States and Europe, its finances, and its efforts to support terror around the world.

Iran and its terrorist proxies understand the power of media. Supported by Iran, Hezbollah’s al-Manar TV and Hamas’ al-Aqsa TV use satellite broadcasts to recruit terrorists, facilitate deadly attacks, and spread militant Islam throughout the world.

FDD launched the Coalition Against Terrorist Media (CATM), which successfully campaigned for U.S. Treasury designation of al-Manar as a terrorist organization and removal of al-Manar TV from nine out of 11 worldwide satellite companies. CATM also played a direct role in the 2006 arrest of Javed Iqbal and Saleh Elahwal in New York City for providing material support to Hezbollah and al-Manar; federal prosecutors have asked FDD Executive Director and CATM Co-Manager Mark Dubowitz to testify at the June 2008 trial.

Meanwhile, FDD and its Brussels-based strategic partner, the European Foundation for Democracy (EFD), are working with Rep. Robert Wexler (D-FL) on the designation of Hezbollah as a terrorist entity in Europe. To garner Congressional support, EFD Senior Fellow Alexander Ritzmann, a former German politician, testified before the House European Subcommittee. Our work with Rep. Wexler supported a letter-writing campaign involving more than 200 members of Congress calling for the European Union designation.

At home and abroad, policy leaders and the media call upon our experts and staff hundreds of times a year to comment on Iran, Syria, Hezbollah, and Hamas. Our focus on credible messengers and powerful messages allows us to shape the policy environment and public perceptions influencing critical decisions regarding the Iranian regime.

“If you would like to have good relations with the Iranian nation in the future ... bow down before the greatness of the Iranian nation and surrender. If you don’t accept [to do this], the Iranian nation will later force you to surrender and bow down.”

Another FDD Fellow, Syria and Lebanon analyst Tony Badran, focuses on the Iranian threat throughout the Middle East region.

With a powerful network of members, including honorary co-chairs Sens. Joe Lieberman (ID-CT) and Jon Kyl (R-AZ), the FDD-managed Committee on the Present Danger educates Capitol Hill on the Iranian regime and the militant Islamist terrorism it supports.

As part of its work on Iraq, FDD held a magnifying glass to Iran’s deadly efforts to kill American soldiers and to destabilize its neighbor.

Award-winning FDD Journalist-in-Residence Claudia Rosett detailed the U.N. managerial and moral failures that would make it so dangerous for the United Nations to oversee the Iranian nuclear program, as many have suggested it should.

Concurrently, FDD and CATM targeted revenue to Hezbollah. Our successful outreach to companies advertising on al-Manar prevented over $2 million in annual ad revenue from reaching Hezbollah coffers. In 2007, CATM contacted five new multinational companies advertising on al-Manar; all either agreed to stop or instructed their local partners to do so. By the close of 2008, this will deny Hezbollah an additional $1.6 million. Furthermore, CATM secured an agreement in 2008 from Europe’s largest supplier of hotel entertainment to cease making al-Manar and al-Aqsa available in more than 2,000 hotels and to lobby its industry colleagues to follow suit.

Continued pressure on these regimes and terrorist organizations requires constant vigilance. During Hezbollah’s unprovoked war against Israeli citizens in summer 2006, FDD more than doubled its media campaign, appearing on national and international media outlets 18 times a day. And in 2007, FDD’s annual “Leading Thinkers” policy workshop focused on “The Plan Forward: Confronting the Iranian Threat,” which was attended by more than 30 leading policy experts from the United States, Europe, Iran, and Israel. The Wall St. Journal best summarized its effectiveness: “Getting the policy right on Iran is an urgent national priority. Asking the right questions must be the first order of business.”

In 2008, FDD is pressing those questions—and providing answers—through congressional testimony, in the media, at policy conferences, and in private meetings, with strategic partners and through our own initiatives.