The Hejrat Foundation says it is a “religious, educational, and charitable organization.”[2] It also owns Masjid Al-Nabi mosque.
The founder of the Hejrat Foundation, Seyed Mahmoud Mousavi, is said by the FBI to have been an interrogator for the Islamic Revolutionary Court in Iran.[3] He remains a member of the Hejrat Foundation’s Board of Trustees.[4]
The Foundation’s website links to the official site of Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei and a site dedicated to Ayatollah Khomeini, the founder of the Iranian regime.[5] It also links to PressTV, an Iranian regime-controlled news outlet.[6]
In June 2007, the Hejrat Foundation honored Grand Ayatollah Muhammad Fazel Lankarani in a statement on its website. The Foundation mentions that he was a student of Ayatollah Khomeini and served as a regime official in the Council of Experts. The Foundation called Lankarani “one of the world’s great religious scholars.”[7]  Lankarani was an Islamist cleric that issued a fatwa in 2006 ordering Muslims to kill an Azeri writer critical of Iran. The writer was stabbed to death in November 2011.[8]
Mousavi was arrested in 2007. In 2008, Mousavi was found guilty of six felony counts related to business transactions that violated sanctions on Iran and false reporting to the IRS. He was paid over $45,000 by a Kuwaiti company to help establish business in Iran “and to provide any needed follow-up with [Iranian] authorities.” This income was not disclosed to the IRS, nor was over $500,000 from his business arranging travel for the Hajj, the Islamic pilgrimage to Mecca.[9]
He was released from prison in January 2010. In May 2010, his conviction on immigration charges was overturned.[10]
[1] “Contact Us,” Hejrat Foundation website, https://hejrat.org/?a=contact_us.
[2] “About Us,” Hejrat Foundation website, https://hejrat.org/?a=about_us.
[3] “Iranian Native Convicted of Violating Trade Embargo, Failing to Report Income and Lying to Authorities,” Release No. 08-048, United States Attorney’s Office, Central District of California, April 24, 2008. Justice Department website, https://www.justice.gov/usao/cac/Pressroom/pr2008/048.html.
[4] “About Us.”
[5] “Links,” Hejrat Foundation website, https://hejrat.org/?a=links.
[6] “International,” Hejrat Foundation website, https://hejrat.org/?a=news&b=international.
[7] “Press Releases,”Hejrat Foundation website, June 16, 2007, https://hejrat.org/?a=news&b=press_releases.
[8] “Azerbaijani Journalist Targeted by Fatwa Dies After Stabbing Attack,” Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, November 23, 2011. https://www.rferl.org/content/azerbaijani_journalist_targeted_by_fatwa_dies_of_stab_attack_injuries/24399744.html
[9] “Iranian Native Convicted.”
[10] “Update Alert: USA—Seyed Mousavi Wins Court Appeal,” Islamic Human Rights Commission, June 3, 2010. https://www.ihrc.org.uk/activities/alerts/9331-update-alert-usa-seyed-mousavi-wins-court-appeal