Iona is based in New York City. Since joining The Telegraph in 2024, she has covered major international stories, including the Russia-Ukraine war, conflicts in the Middle East and US politics 10:30am BST The leader of an activist group behind pro-Palestine protests in the UK met with two individuals later sanctioned over their links to Iran, The Telegraph can reveal.

In 2014, Medea Benjamin, the co-founder of anti-war organisation Code Pink, was in contact with men later identified by US officials as facilitators for the Islamic Republic’s foreign intelligence. They were sanctioned by the US treasury five years later.

An intelligence source claimed Ms Benjamin had been viewed by Iran as an “asset” to the regime by pushing “Iran’s influence and narratives” in both the US and UK.

Code Pink opposes the war against Iran and sanctions on the regime, organising major rallies and lobbying Congress.

Its British arm has been a key organiser of pro-Palestine and anti-Israel demonstrations, including outside Whitehall and at UK military bases.

Ms Benjamin is believed to have most recently visited the UK in June. She delivered a talk in which she professed her support for Palestine Action, a proscribed terror organisation.

Counter-terrorism agencies in the West have raised the alarm over the heightened risk of Iranian state-backed covert operations and terror plots in the wake of the US-Israeli military campaign against Iran launched on Feb 28. The UK and US are considered primary targets for such threats.

Ms Benjamin, an American political activist, co-founded Code Pink in 2002. The group defines itself as a feminist grass roots organisation working to end war and imperialism, and support peace and human rights.

The Telegraph revealed in August that the US was investigating alleged Chinese backing of Code Pink’s activities in Britain as part of an inquiry into foreign interference.

A Code Pink spokesman previously said allegations of Chinese funding were “a big fat lie”.

Code Pink protesters raise their hands as Antony Blinken, then US secretary of state, and Lloyd Austin, then defence secretary, prepare to testify during a Senate committee in October 2023 The group states on its website that it supports movements against “Israeli apartheid” and the “ongoing occupation and genocide in Palestine”.

Code Pink also demands an end to “any troops sent to the Middle East, a complete halt in military equipment and aid to Israel and peace with Iran”.

According to evidence gathered by The Telegraph, Ms Benjamin attended a 2014 conference in Iran hosted by the Tehran-based New Horizon Organisation, also known as the International Institute of Independent Thinkers and Artists.

The organisation was sanctioned in 2019 by the US treasury department for acting as a platform for the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) to recruit and gather intelligence on Western attendees.

During the three-day event, Ms Benjamin was pictured alongside Nader Talebzadeh and Hamed Ghashghavi. In 2019, US intelligence identified both men – who held leadership roles in New Horizon – as go-betweens and spotters for the IRGC’s Quds Force (IRGC-QF), its foreign operations arm, and foreign attendees.

Mr Talebzadeh, the chairman of the New Horizon organisation, and Mr Ghashghavi, the group’s secretary for international affairs, worked to organise the conferences where Iran could then “recruit and collect intelligence from foreign attendees”, according to the US treasury department.

New Horizon conference in Tehran in 2014: (left to right) Nader Talebzadeh, Medea Benjamin, Hamed Ghashghavi, and Press TV anchor Marzieh Hashemi The US designated the IRGC-QF a terrorist entity in 2007, and the broader IRGC in 2019. The UK designated the IRGC a threat to national security this July.

After the conference, Ms Benjamin appears to have written Mr Ghashghavi a handwritten note, according to evidence unearthed by The Telegraph. It is signed with “thanks and admiration”.

“You are wise beyond your years, and I look forward to seeing where life takes you – and where you take your life,” she allegedly wrote. It is not clear whether Ms Benjamin continued contact beyond the letter. Ms Benjamin did not respond to comment on this.

A note appearing to be from Ms Benjamin to Mr Ghashghavi praising him for being ‘wise beyond [his] years’ The Iranian regime has long been accused of running covert informational campaigns designed to inflame social and political tensions in the West.

A key strategy, documented by experts, is exploiting anti-war protest movements under the guise of grass roots activism and sponsoring disinformation campaigns that cultivate anti-Western sentiment.

Dr Matthew Levitt, former FBI and treasury department counter-terrorism official, said: “Iranian propaganda, in many cases, is geared towards promoting anti-war sentiment.”At the 2014 event, Ms Benjamin was also pictured with Marzieh Hashemi – a prominent US-born anchor on Iran’s state-run Press TV.

Marzieh Hashemi (second from right) speaks at New Horizon conference in 2014 The New York Times identified Ms Hashemi as the unnamed individual described in a 2019 US federal indictment as having engaged in acts consistent with serving as a “spotter and assessor” for Iranian intelligence. She has never been charged.

Federal prosecutors alleged that Ms Hashemi groomed and facilitated the defection of Monica Witt, a former US air force counterintelligence agent who attended a New Horizon conference in Iran in 2012.

In a major coup for Iranian intelligence, Ms Witt defected to Iran in 2013. She was then indicted by the US on charges of conspiring to commit espionage on behalf of Iran and has been wanted by the FBI ever since.

After the September 2014 conference, Ms Benjamin and Code Pink made a further visit to Iran, strongly adopting pro-regime talking points – including accusing the US government of negotiating in bad faith and pushing for an end to sanctions, threats and escalation against Iran. The group has also been increasingly influential in the anti-Israel boycott campaign.

In January 2019, Ms Benjamin led a 28-member “peace” delegation to Iran and met Mohammad Javad Zarif, the then Iranian foreign minister, directly.

In a state-run press conference, she condemned Donald Trump for withdrawing from the 2015 Iran nuclear deal and accused Israel of lobbying against the agreement. “The Israelis got as a compensation more of our tax dollars,” she was quoted as saying by Press TV.

Medea Benjamin (centre left) leads Code Pink’s ‘peace delegation’ to Iran in 2019 pictured with then Iranian foreign minister, Mohammad Javad Zarif (centre right) Upon their return, they were questioned by the FBI, Code Pink claimed.

Another trip – cancelled because of the coronavirus pandemic – was scheduled for 2020, according to the group.

An intelligence source told The Telegraph: “While it is unlikely that Ms Benjamin views herself as a high-value IRGC and Iranian ministry of intelligence and security asset in the US with secondary operational significance to the UK, she is certainly aware of her favourable position in Tehran.

“Given how she personally led a delegation to meet then foreign minister Zarif in 2019, this allows her very little room for deniability in having a close and favourable relationship with the regime.”The source added that such trips would probably have to be sanctioned by the office of the supreme leader and IRGC, given the high-level individuals Ms Benjamin and the delegation met.

Ms Benjamin is removed after protesting during Pete Hegseth’s Senate confirmation hearing on Jan 14, 2025 Critics at the time accused Code Pink of helping to legitimise a murderous regime that was using the group’s support to bolster its image abroad.

When a reporter questioned Ms Benjamin in 2024 about allegations that she and Code Pink had ties to the Iranian government, she answered: “We do not believe in supporting governments; we support people.”An Iranian agent was likely to see an opportunity to manipulate Ms Benjamin’s “pre-existing sympathies for the oppressed, the downtrodden, and those affected by Western-caused wars”, said Jonathan Hackett, a former American intelligence operator and expert in Iran’s covert operations. Events such as New Horizon were “tailor-made for such operations”, he added.

Medea Benjamin speaking in front of the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, 2019 In 2024, US intelligence officials warned that the Iranian regime was covertly financing and supporting Gaza war protests, and the Home Office has also launched an investigation into allegations that Iran is supporting UK-based protest networks. There is no evidence that Code Pink has received funds from the Iranian government.

On its website, Code Pink states it is “in no way funded by China, nor any other foreign government or agency. We are funded primarily by donations from concerned citizens that support peace over war.”A UK Government spokesman said: “The first duty of government is to protect our national security. That is why we have brought forward some of the most robust measures to defend our country and democracy from state-backed threats.

“Protecting the UK’s democracy and democratic institutions is fundamental to our national security, and we will continue to take whatever action is necessary to safeguard them.”The US treasury department, which includes the Office of Foreign Assets Control, declined to comment.

A Counter Terrorism Policing spokesman said the force did not comment “on who may or may not be subject to any counter terrorism investigation”. Ms Benjamin and Code Pink declined repeated requests for comment.