Newly released documents from the Jeffrey Epstein case include multiple references to Iran, ranging from claims of a meeting with a former Iranian president to allegations of arms trading, financial networks, and property links connected to Tehran.
Among the emails released from the Jeffrey Epstein case is a letter written by Robert Trivers, a prominent American evolutionary biologist, referring to a meeting between Epstein and Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, Iran’s former president.
This is not the only instance in which Iran appears in the documents made public by the US Department of Justice.
The letter, dated March 24, 2018, appears among millions of documents released as part of the Epstein case. In it, Trivers refers to a meeting between Epstein and Ahmadinejad in New York following the Iranian leader’s speeches at the United Nations General Assembly, where he had delivered strongly worded remarks against Israel and Zionism.
Trivers notes that his own information about Ahmadinejad was limited and partly based on online research, including accounts that Ahmadinejad came from a poor family and had previously worked as an engineer and a teacher.
In the letter, Trivers poses a tentative question to Epstein, asking whether this social background may have served as a basis for a connection between the two men.
He also describes Epstein as “polymorphously perverse” in his political and social relationships, suggesting that he was capable of maintaining ties simultaneously with figures from sharply opposing ideological camps.
As examples, Trivers points to Fidel Castro, whom he characterizes as a symbol of radical socialism, and Ahmadinejad, whom he describes as representing radical Islamism.
Denial from Ahmadinejad’s camp
Ali Akbar Javanfekr, Ahmadinejad’s former media adviser, responded to the disclosure on February 1, rejecting the claim outright.
“The allegation raised in the media about a meeting between someone named Epstein and Dr. Ahmadinejad is completely false, and such a meeting never took place,” Javanfekr wrote.
He described the claim as nothing more than fabricated news based on lies and deception.
Ahmadinejad traveled to New York eight times between August 2005 and July 2013 during his eight-year presidency to attend and address the United Nations General Assembly.
His first trip became one of the most controversial episodes of his presidency after claims about a “halo of light” surrounding him during his UN speech. His final visit also drew criticism after he brought a delegation of around 120 people, reportedly including his son, daughter-in-law, and his daughter-in-law’s mother.
Alireza Ittihadieh in Epstein’s correspondence
In an earlier release of Epstein-related documents, the name of another Iranian also drew media attention: Alireza Ittihadieh, an Iranian businessman and chief executive of Freestream Aircraft, a private jet brokerage company.
The relationship between Epstein and Ittihadieh appears to have originated primarily through Epstein’s use of Ittihadieh’s private jet services. The two exchanged emails repeatedly between 2014 and 2018. Initial correspondence focused largely on coordinating private flights for Epstein and his guests, but over time their exchanges expanded to topics related to Iran.
These later emails included the sharing of political analysis and information about Iran’s domestic situation and US policy toward Tehran.
Political analysis and a warning before the nuclear deal exit
In May 2017, Ittihadieh forwarded parts of a New York Times report to Epstein addressing then-President Donald Trump’s speech on Iran, his efforts to build closer ties with Sunni-majority countries in the region, particularly Saudi Arabia, and social reactions inside Iran following the electoral defeat of Ebrahim Raisi.
The report included a quote from Fadel Meybodi, a political activist, pointing to the challenges faced by then-President Hassan Rouhani in expanding social freedoms and breaking hardliners’ monopoly over state media such as Iran’s national broadcaster.
Epstein replied to the email by writing: “I told you this would happen. Before things get better, they will get much worse.”
One year later, Trump withdrew the United States from the Iran nuclear deal.
Shift in tone and business exchanges
In an email dated July 2018, the tone of the correspondence changed. Epstein requested technical information about a Boeing business jet, asking Ittihadieh for detailed specifications and maintenance schedules.
In the same message, Epstein referred to Trump’s statements expressing interest in reaching a deal with Iran, describing the approach as “madness.”
Ittihadieh responded by writing: “Let's keep our friendship and talk politics, you are after free information and I NO longer provide free information.”
In later exchanges, when Epstein inquired about the sale of a jet, Ittihadieh replied that another offer had been received and that accepting that offer was likely.
Arms trading and covert networks
In recent days, images circulating on social media have highlighted passages from a book alleging Epstein’s involvement in arms sales to the Islamic Republic during the Iran-Iraq war.
The excerpts come from pages 20 and 21 of the second volume of the book A Nation Under Blackmail, published in 2022.
According to the book, Epstein’s connections with Iran date back not to the final years of his life, but primarily to the 1980s and 1990s, involving covert activities in arms trafficking, money laundering, and intelligence networks.
This period coincided with the Iran-Iraq war and secret operations such as the Iran-Contra affair.
According to statements by Steven Hoffenberg, a former close associate of Epstein, Epstein received training in the early 1980s under Sir Douglas Leese, whom Hoffenberg described as instructing Epstein in arms smuggling, the creation of shell companies, and money laundering.
Hoffenberg has said that by 1983, Epstein was directly involved in the sale of Chinese weapons to Iran through the state-owned company Norinco, at the height of the Iran-Iraq war.
Parallel operations and the role of BCCI
Hoffenberg claims these activities were carried out as part of an operation running “in parallel” with the Iran-Contra affair. According to this account, Epstein, Douglas Leese, and Adnan Khashoggi, the well-known Saudi arms dealer, worked together in these dealings.
Under this narrative, financing and money transfers relied heavily on the services of the Bank of Credit and Commerce International (BCCI), which was later shut down amid revelations of widespread money laundering, covert financing operations, and links to intelligence services in several countries.
Links to Israeli intelligence networks
In another account, Ari Ben-Menashe, a former Israeli intelligence officer, has claimed that Robert Maxwell, the British-Czech media tycoon and owner of the Mirror Group, sought to involve Epstein in the transfer and sale of military equipment and weapons from Israel to Iran as part of intelligence operations.
According to Ben-Menashe, Epstein was frequently present at Maxwell’s London office during that period and maintained close ties with this network, connections that have surfaced repeatedly in later accounts and documents.
Iran-linked property in Manhattan
Epstein’s name has also been linked to Iran in the real estate sector.
According to available records, he leased a mansion on East 69th Street in Manhattan starting in 1992. The property had previously served as the residence of Iran’s consul general in New York.
The building, often described as a “small castle,” was seized by the US government in 1980 following the 1979 Iranian revolution and the severing of diplomatic relations between Tehran and Washington.
During the tenure of Secretary of State James Baker, the US State Department leased the property to Epstein for a monthly rent of 15,000 dollars. The department later sued Epstein for subleasing the mansion to others for 20,000 dollars per month.
Israeli military intelligence chief Maj. Gen. Shlomi Binder met senior officials at the Pentagon, the CIA and the White House on Tuesday and Wednesday, according to US officials and other sources familiar with the discussions, as Israel shared intelligence it says could inform potential targets inside Iran, Axios reported on Thursday.
Saudi Defense Minister Prince Khalid bin Salman was expected in Washington on Thursday and Friday for meetings at the Pentagon, the State Department and the White House, including with Secretary of State Marco Rubio and US special envoy Steve Witkoff, sources said.
Saudi officials have been urging de-escalation and have passed messages between Washington and Tehran in recent days, according to the same accounts.
The visits came as Reuters reported on Thursday that President Donald Trump is considering military options against Iran that range from targeted strikes on commanders and security forces blamed by Washington for a violent crackdown on protests, to broader attacks against Iran’s missile and nuclear infrastructure.
Trump has not made a final decision, Reuters reported, citing multiple sources, including US officials familiar with the deliberations.
Trump on Wednesday again warned Iran about possible strikes while also urging Tehran to “come to the table” on a nuclear deal, saying any future attack would be “far worse” than a June bombing campaign against Iranian nuclear sites.
He described US naval forces in the region as an “armada,” language he has used repeatedly in recent days.
Washington’s military posture has been shifting at the same time.
The arrival of the USS Abraham Lincoln aircraft carrier and supporting warships in the region this week broadened Trump’s options.
Open-source tracking and public statements over the past two weeks have pointed to a wider buildup of air, sea and air-defense assets, including deployments designed to support sustained air operations and defend US forces and regional partners against retaliation.
The question of whether a second major naval force could follow has added to the sense of escalation.
A separate carrier strike group, the USS George H.W. Bush, departed Norfolk on January 13, though its destination has not been publicly confirmed.
Analysts tracking force movements have said the Bush’s movements could determine whether the United States intends to maintain one carrier in the region as a deterrent, or assemble a larger package capable of prolonged operations.
Behind the high-level diplomacy and military deployments is a rapidly deteriorating crisis inside Iran that has reshaped Washington’s calculations over the past month.
Protests erupted on December 28 after strikes and demonstrations began in Tehran’s bazaars and spread nationwide, driven initially by economic pressures and rapidly escalating into wider political demands.
Iran’s authorities responded with mass killings and arrests as well as communications restrictions, while the Trump administration warned Tehran against lethal repression.
Trump publicly threatened military action if Iran carried out large-scale executions of protesters, and in mid-January said – without providing evidence – that killings had paused.
The situation then worsened sharply. More than 36,500 Iranians were killed by security forces during the January 8-9 crackdown on nationwide protests, making it the deadliest two-day protest massacre in history, according to documents reviewed by Iran International
Iranian authorities have not released a comprehensive breakdown of protest-related deaths. They have, however, acknowledged several thousand fatalities.
In Tehran, Iranian officials have warned the United States and regional states against military action. Ali Shamkhani, a senior adviser to Iran’s top leadership, said on X that any US military action would be treated as an act of war and would prompt immediate retaliation, including against Israel and what he called those supporting an attack. Iranian officials have also said US bases in the region could be targeted in response.
At the same time, Iranian officials have signaled that indirect diplomacy remains possible even as they reject Washington’s terms.
Trump has not publicly laid out his terms. Past U.S. negotiating demands have included a ban on Iran enriching uranium, limits on long-range ballistic missiles and curbs on Tehran’s network of allied armed groups in the region. Iran has rejected preconditions and says it will negotiate only on equal footing.
A senior Iranian official told Reuters that Iran was preparing for a potential military confrontation while also using diplomatic channels, but said Washington was not showing openness to diplomacy.
Regional reactions
Regional governments are split between fear of Iranian retaliation and concern about Iran’s internal trajectory.
Persian Gulf states that host US forces have pressed Washington against strikes, wary that they would be the first targets in any escalation, according to Reuters.
Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman told Iran’s President Masoud Pezeshkian that Riyadh would not allow its airspace to be used for an attack, according to state news agency SPA. Qatar, Oman and Egypt have also lobbied for restraint, Reuters reported.
Israeli officials, while sharing intelligence and planning closely with Washington, have also cautioned that air power alone is unlikely to produce political change in Iran, Reuters reported, and that any transition would depend on internal fractures and organized domestic forces.
“If you're going to topple the regime, you have to put boots on the ground,” a senior Israeli official told Reuters, adding that even if the United States killed Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, Iran would "have a new leader that will replace him."
For now, US officials say the military buildup is nearing completion and Trump has not closed the door to diplomacy.
But the convergence of high-level visits, an expanded US force posture and the White House’s increasingly explicit linkage between military options and Iran’s internal crackdown has turned a once-remote contingency into an imminent choice for Washington.
