{"id":4294,"date":"2026-02-02T08:18:51","date_gmt":"2026-02-02T08:18:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/codir.net\/?p=4294"},"modified":"2026-02-02T08:18:52","modified_gmt":"2026-02-02T08:18:52","slug":"right-wing-dark-money-groups-want-regime-change-in-iran","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/codir.net\/?p=4294","title":{"rendered":"Right-Wing Dark Money Groups Want Regime Change in Iran"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

ByFreddy Brewster<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

As Donald Trump threatens a military attack on Iran, shadowy conservative groups working to gut consumer protections and roll back abortion rights have also been pouring millions into influential think tanks advocating for regime change in the country.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As President Donald Trump draws the country into hostilities with Iran, shadowy\u00a0conservative groups<\/a>\u00a0working to gut\u00a0consumer protections<\/a>, slash\u00a0climate policy<\/a>, roll back\u00a0abortion rights<\/a>, and push America to the\u00a0far right<\/a>\u00a0have also been pouring millions into influential think tanks advocating for regime change in the country. While attempts to overthrow Iran\u2019s government could risk prolonged instability and bloodshed in the region, the efforts could please the neoconservative billionaires and benefit the fossil fuel interests funneling dark money to the think tanks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Donors Trust, a dark money group with deep ties<\/a> to Supreme Court mastermind Leonard Leo, donated more than $2.7 million to the far-right, anti-Muslim Center for Security Policy from 2020<\/a> to<\/a> 2023<\/a>. A significant portion of Leo\u2019s dark money came from a record-breaking $1.6 billion donation<\/a> from Barre Seid, a conservative, pro-Israel<\/a> billionaire who reportedly<\/a> helped fund the anti-Iran film Obsession: Radical Islam\u2019s War With the West.  <\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

During that same<\/a> time frame<\/a>, the anti-Iran think tank Foundation for the Defense of Democracies received<\/a> more<\/a> than $1.6 million from the Sarah Scaife Foundation, one of the country\u2019s most powerful conservative groups. The Sarah Scaife Foundation, a major donor<\/a> to the authors of Project 2025 blueprint for remaking the government, is financed<\/a> by the Mellon oil and banking fortune. A more internationally engaged Iranian government free of US sanctions could lead to increased development<\/a> of the country\u2019s vast oil reserves, but experts say an attempted regime change could lead to extensive violence and upheaval<\/a> in the region.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That hasn\u2019t stopped these dark money-funded think tanks from rattling their sabers. The Foundation for the Defense of Democracies \u2014 which employs former Trump<\/a> and George<\/a> W. Bush<\/a> Iran hawks and worked<\/a> with Trump\u2019s 2018 State Department on an \u201cIran disinformation<\/a>\u201d project \u2014 has advocated<\/a> for the Iranian populace to \u201cseize this moment\u201d and overthrow the current government.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And the Center for Security Policy \u2014 backed by weapons manufacturers<\/a> including the maker of the \u201cbunker buster\u201d bombs Trump dropped on Iran\u2019s nuclear facilities and founded by a Ronald Reagan staffer who pushed for a Joseph McCarthy\u2013style investigation into supposed jihadi infiltration<\/a> of the US government \u2014 is also cheering on the hostilities. In recent news broadcasts and essays, think tank staffers have alleged that Iran has coordinated<\/a> with Mexican cartels to \u201cconduct attacks on U.S. soil\u201d and has ballistic missiles<\/a> that \u201ccan reach America.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cFortunately,\u201d wrote<\/a> one of the staffers, \u201cwe can trust President Trump to take the correct course of action at the appropriate time to protect America.\u201d<\/p>\n

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