Medea Benjamin, co-founder of the anti-war organization CODEPINK and a well-known advocate for the Cuban regime, is the subject of a journalistic investigation published by The Telegraph that reveals her connections with figures of Iranian intelligence, in a case that links Iran's networks of influence with activists who have also acted in favor of Havana.
According to the research, in September 2014, Benjamin attended a three-day conference in Tehran organized by the New Horizon Organisation, an entity that the U.S. Treasury Department sanctioned in 2019 for providing a platform for the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) to recruit and gather intelligence on Western attendees.
At that event, Benjamin was photographed alongside Nader Talebzadeh and Hamed Ghashghavi, president and secretary of international affairs of New Horizon, respectively, who were identified by U.S. intelligence that same year as intermediaries for the Quds Force of the IRGC (IRGC-QF), the external operations arm of the Revolutionary Guard.
After the conference, Benjamin would have written Ghashghavi a handwritten note signed "with gratitude and admiration." "You are wiser than what corresponds to your age, and I look forward to seeing where life takes you," says the text attributed to her by The Telegraph.
An intelligence source cited by the British newspaper was straightforward in its assessment: "Since he personally led a delegation to meet with then-Foreign Minister Zarif in 2019, this leaves him little room to deny that he maintains a close and favorable relationship with the regime."
In January 2019, Benjamin led a delegation of 28 members of CODEPINK to Iran and met with then Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif. At a press conference held by the Iranian regime, he condemned Donald Trump for withdrawing from the 2015 nuclear agreement. Upon returning to the U.S., the organization claimed to have been interrogated by the FBI.
When a journalist asked him in 2024 about his ties to Tehran, Benjamin replied, “We do not believe in supporting governments; we support the people.”
The case is not limited to Iran. Benjamin lived in Cuba between 1979 and 1983, and CODEPINK has organized multiple delegations to the island.
In March 2026, the organization participated in the Nuestra América Convoy, which delivered medications to the Cuban Ministry of Health. As a result, the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) summoned Benjamin in May 2026 to investigate possible violations of U.S. sanctions against Cuba.
The geopolitical context amplifies the seriousness of the revelations. In July 2026, the State Department published the report "Cuba: Capital of 21st Century Communism", which explicitly mentions CODEPINK among the organizations influenced by Havana and describes Cuba as a "force multiplier" for China, Russia, Iran, and North Korea, with documented cooperation in intelligence, telecommunications, and security.
At the beginning of August, Benjamin and other CODEPINK activists staged a protest outside the Department of State headquarters in Washington D.C. and threw a copy of the aforementioned government report into a trash can.
The Trump administration has intensified its warnings in recent months. It declared a national emergency due to the Cuban threat in January 2026, and Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth warned in August that “all options are on the table” regarding Cuba, including military action. This Saturday, Trump suggested that U.S. warships returning from the Middle East could stop near the island.
The expert in undercover operations from Iran Jonathan Hackett summarized the reasoning behind cases like Benjamin's: «An Iranian agent would likely see the opportunity to manipulate Benjamin's preexisting sympathies towards the oppressed and those affected by wars caused by the West. Events like New Horizon were tailor-made for that type of operation».
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