[[Raji Samghabadi]] was an Iranian-born journalist who worked as a Middle East correspondent for *Time* magazine. He was initially hired as a stringer for *Time* by [[Bruce van Voorst]], who had been a [[Central Intelligence Agency|CIA]] officer. Prior to this, in the early 1970s, Samghabadi worked for *Keyhan International*, an English-language daily newspaper in [[Tehran]], and was secretly a member of the pro-Soviet [[Tudeh Party]].[^1] After the [[Iranian Revolution]], Samghabadi was arrested by the Mullahs, accused of being a [[Central Intelligence Agency|CIA]] spy and a [[Tudeh Party]] member. He was later released and sought political asylum in the [[USA|U.S.]], eventually becoming an [[USA|American]] citizen and a Middle East correspondent for *Time*.[^1] In May 1986, [[Ari Ben-Menashe]] provided [[Raji Samghabadi|Samghabadi]] with detailed information about the [[Oliver North|North]]-[[Amiram Nir|Nir]] operation, which became known as the [[Iran-Contra Affair]]. Samghabadi considered it a major scoop, but *Time* magazine ultimately refused to print the story, a decision attributed to the editor-in-chief, [[Henry Grunwald]].[^1] [[Raji Samghabadi|Samghabadi]] was later a witness for [[Ari Ben-Menashe]] in his trial for arms dealing. Despite suffering from frayed nerves, he testified, confirming that [[Ari Ben-Menashe|Ben-Menashe]] had informed him about the [[Iran-Contra Affair]] prior to its public exposure. He also made a memorable, if excitable, statement during his testimony, highlighting the human cost of the conflict.[^1] ### Footnotes [^1]: Ben-Menashe, Ari. *Profits of War: Inside the Secret U.S.-Israeli Arms Network*. TrineDay, 1992. (Hereafter, "Profits of War")