Institute for Persian Studies

The Institute for Persian Studies (IPS) is a Washington, D.C.-based think tank dedicated to "regime change in Iran".

About Mahtaub Hojjati
"Meet Mahtaub 'Mattie' Hojjati," Spencer Ackerman wrote July 6, 2007, for TPMmuckraker. "A well-connected government and business consultant Hojjati is about to embark on a new career: revolutionary provocateur. She has two missions: to hasten the overthrow of the Iranian regime, and to convince the American public to support her.

"Under the byline of Mattie Fein -- her husband is Bruce Fein, the prominent Reagan-era Justice Department lawyer last seen calling for the impeachment of Dick Cheney -- Hojjati penned an op-ed in the Washington Times last week heralding the creation of a new think tank, known as the the Institute for Persian Studies, devoted to pushing the regime over the abyss. From her perspective, the nearly 30-year old Iranian Revolution is in a terminal phase. 'The cue that most of the population is looking for is international support,' she tells TPMmuckraker, 'but right now, they're getting mixed signals.'"

"Hojjati is going to scale back her consulting work at the Lichfield Group, a boutique image-management firm that boasts of 'high level connections with the Department of Justice, the Department of State, and the Central Intelligence Agency' and the media," Ackerman wrote. "She's already sold some of her prize possessions to finance the IPS, which she plans to incorporate as a 501 c3 nonprofit. Already, she expressly forswears seeking any U.S. government funding. 'It is extremely important that (Iranians) see the institute as free of ulterior motives for it to achieve and sustain legitimacy,' she says."

"For years, Mattie Fein, a p.r. consultant, worked for two of the biggest whores in Washington DC, Dick Morris and Roger Stone," mrs. panstreppon wrote July 7, 2007, at TPM Cafe. "Her bio is somewhat short on specifics and omits to mention that up until 2004 [when she married Bruce Fein], Mattie Fein was known as Mattie Lolavar in the p.r. business. ... Now Fein wants us to trust her judgment about what to do in Iran."


 * Note: mrs. panstreppon's article and comments contain extensive research and information on Mattie Lovalar-Cohen-Fein.

Domain name
According to a WHOIS lookup, INSTITUTEFORPERSIANSTUDIES.ORG was created June 29, 2007, through GoDaddy.com and registered to Ryan Benton, Institute for Persian Studies, 17 Ridgewood Road, Malvern, Penn. 19355.

On a March 2007 registration notice for Youth2007 Conference to be held in Greensboro, N.C., Youth Leader Ryan Benton is listed as point of contact for the Berwyn United Methodist Church, with the mailing address 17 Ridgewood Road, Malvern, PA. Benton is the web designer for the church's website. It would appear that Benton is a web designer with AdminService of Phoenixville, Penn.

Contact details
Email: info AT instituteforpersianstudies.org Website: http://instituteforpersianstudies.org/

External articles

 * Wayne Barrett, "The Sex Scandal That Put Bush in the White House. How GOP operative Roger Stone destroyed the Reform Party in the 2000 presidential campaign," The Village Voice, May 18, 2004.