Islamic Education Center of San Diego (IECSD)

The Islamic Education Center of San Diego (IECSD) is a Shia mosque and school in San Diego California.

IECSD is a grant/loan recipient of the Alavi Foundation.[1]  The Alavi Foundation is a known front for
the Iranian regime that was used to finance its nuclear program and promote its radical ideology.[2]

In 2009, The Washington Post, reported U.S. officials’ claims that the Alavi Foundation “promotes
Tehran’s views on world affairs.”[3]  Hamid Azimi, communications director for the Iranian-American
Community of Northern California, says the foundation is part of the regime’s “propaganda machine.”[4]

Imam Sayed Saberi is the spiritual leader of IECSD. Imam Saberi is the first Shi’a scholar who led
the congregational prayer at the White House, when President Obama invited the ambassadors of
the Islamic countries for an Iftar (break fast) dinner during Ramadan.[5]

[1] Alavi Foundation website, “Grant Programs > Islamic Organizations,” Accessed November 22, 2018,
https://alavifoundation.org/old/programs/islamicorganizations.html
[2] Meira Svirsky, “Iranian Gov’t Front Group Funded Over 60 Islamic Sites in U.S.,” Clarion Project, July 1, 2013,
https://clarionprojstg.wpengine.com/iranian-govt-front-group-funded-over-60-islamic-sites-us/
[3]Glenn Kessler, “Prosecutors tie Iran, U.S. assets,” The Washington Post, November 13, 2009,
https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/11/12/AR2009111209731.html
[4] Michael B. Farrell, “What’s known about Iran-linked Alavi Foundation?” The Christian Science Monitor, November
14, 2009, https://www.csmonitor.com/USA/2009/1114/p02s10-usgn.html/%28page%29/2
[5] Alavi Foundation website, “About The Scholar Of The Islamic Educational Center of San Diego,” Accessed
November 22, 2018, https://www.iecsd.com/index.php/imam-of-center