Iranian dissidents all set to visit Israel

Tel Aviv: A group of eight unruly Iranians will visit Israel next week to show “solidarity” with Israelis “in light of the latest attacks” by Palestinian militants backed by the Islamic Republic, the Jerusalem Post reported on Thursday.

Four former Trump administration officials will accompany them during a visit organized by the Institute for Voices of Liberty (iVOL), a policy institute dedicated to promoting freedom, human rights and democracy in Iran.

This is the third major event in the history of the Iranian opposition in the last two weeks. A group of more than 30 Iranian rebels wrote a letter to Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett on July 9 urging them to continue their opposition to the Islamic Republic, saying that a democratic Iran is Israel’s strategic ally.

A day earlier, the exiled Prince Reza Pahlavi had spoken at the conference of presidents of American Jewish organizations inviting the exile to address their assembly.

Traditional opposition groups have avoided public contact with Israel, mainly in order not to be targeted as a supporter of what the Islamic Republic and other extremists in the region have described as the enemy of Muslims.

Several former U.S. government officials will be with the Iranian delegation along with Victoria Coates, Ellie Cohanim, Len Khodorkovsky and Adam Lovinger. The names of the traveling Iranians have not been released. The only person mentioned so far is iVOL board member Bijan R. Kian, who has been convicted of illegal lobbying in connection with the investigation of former national security adviser Michael Flynn.