The federal government gave an Iranian state-run university $126,884 in October 2017, shortly after Iran improved its relationship with Hamas.
The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) awarded $538,350 between 2016 and 2021 for “collaborative child mental healthcare research in low-resource settings.” Tehran Medical Science University, a public institution in Iran, is listed as a subrecipient of the grant. Iran, which had historically provided money and arms to Hamas, repaired its relations with the group in August 2017 after disputes over the civil war in Syria caused a rift between the two, according to Reuters.
The grant paid for Johns Hopkins University, the University of Washington and Tehran University of Medical Sciences to work together on a research project concerning youth mental healthcare. Tehran University of Medical Sciences was placed under the administration of Iran’s Ministry of Health, Treatment and Medical Education following the Islamic Revolution, according to the university’s website.
Hamas was the group behind the Oct. 7 terrorist attacks in Israel that killed more than 1,200 civilians, including at least 33 Americans. Iran may have helped Hamas plan their invasion, according to unnamed sources who spoke with The Wall Street Journal, though the Iranian government has denied those claims and the U.S. government has been unable to verify them.
Iran has been designated as a state sponsor of terrorism since 1984, according to the State Department.
.@SecPompeo: The Islamic Republic of Iran is the world’s largest state sponsor of terror. pic.twitter.com/XNgEzbqKCJ
— Department of State (@StateDept) December 29, 2020
HHS paid for American scientists to hold weekly meetings with the head of an Iranian research team to oversee their collaborative project, according to a description of a subgrant to the University of Washington.
This isn’t the first time taxpayer dollars have gone to support the Iranian regime. The National Science Foundation (NSF) shelled out $17,086 for a Yale University graduate student’s dissertation research in 2013, according to the NSF’s website. (RELATED: Blinken Warns There Is A ‘Likelihood’ Of Escalation By Iran Against American Forces)
The graduate student visited the Tehran International Book Fair, which is supported by Iran’s Ministry of Culture and Islamic Guidance, for two consecutive years as part of her research, according to the project’s outcome report on the NSF’s website. The book fair featured texts promoting antisemitism and holocaust denial in 2014, according to the United Against Nuclear Iran.
“By studying countries of concern, we gain valuable insights that can protect our nation and can bolster our understanding of potential threats,” an NSF spokesperson told the Daily Caller News Foundation. “The findings related to this study underscore the significance of this research in potentially shaping informed policies and strategies that contribute to our national security efforts.”
The State Department paid $120,000 between 2016 and 2018 in part to send Iranian students to a model United Nations conference in Kazakhstan, according to a grant listing.
The Department of Health and Human Services and the State Department have not responded to the DCNF’s requests for comment.
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