Iran admitted on Sunday that it had worked closely with the Open Society Foundation, a grant-making network founded by American billionaire George Soros, which has often been accused of promoting an anti-Israeli agenda through left-wing NGOs.
During a question-and-answer session before the Iranian parliament, Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said the Iranian regime’s work with the OSF predated his tenure. The BBC has reported that he has managed to “restrict and regulate it.”
According to a report published by Israel’s Strategic Affairs Ministry, Soros has backed a large number of groups affiliated with the BDS movement, which seeks to isolate Israel. The groups have been blacklisted by Israel, and their activists are barred from entering the country.
In 2016, Soros was found to have donated millions to Palestinian and Israeli organizations that set out to delegitimize Israel through U.S. and E.U. advocacy.
Over the years, he has also supported left-wing organizations in Israel such as Breaking the Silence and the New Israel Fund through the OSF, according to the watchdog group NGO Monitor.
