WASHINGTON D.C (VINnews) – The co-founder of the anti-Israel activist group Code Pink met with two men later sanctioned by the United States for serving as facilitators for Iran’s foreign intelligence apparatus, The Telegraph reported Friday.

In 2014, Medea Benjamin attended a conference in Tehran organized by the New Horizon Organisation, also known as the International Institute of Independent Thinkers and Artists. She was photographed alongside Nader Talebzadeh and Hamed Ghashghavi, who held leadership roles in the group. The U.S. Treasury Department sanctioned New Horizon in 2019, describing it as a platform used by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) to recruit and collect intelligence on Western attendees. U.S. officials later identified the two men as go-betweens and spotters for the IRGC’s Quds Force, the regime’s foreign operations arm.​

An intelligence source told The Telegraph that Iranian officials had viewed Benjamin as an “asset” for amplifying the regime’s narratives in the United States and the United Kingdom. Code Pink’s British operations have helped organize pro-Palestine and anti-Israel demonstrations, including outside Whitehall and at U.K. military bases. Benjamin has also publicly supported Palestine Action, a group proscribed as a terrorist organization in Britain.​

Benjamin, who was born Susan Benjamin to a Jewish family on Long Island, has spent years positioning herself as an anti-war voice while repeatedly aligning with regimes and groups hostile to Israel. She has led Code Pink delegations to Iran, including a 2019 trip that included a meeting with then-Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif, and has visited Hamas-controlled Gaza. The group campaigns against sanctions on Tehran, calls for an end to U.S. military aid to Israel, and has amplified claims of Israeli “genocide” and “apartheid.” Critics note that Benjamin has equated Israel with Nazi Germany in the aftermath of the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas massacre of more than 1,200 Israelis and the taking of hostages.​

The revelations come as Iran and its proxies continue to threaten Israel’s existence. Tehran funds and arms Hamas, Hezbollah, and other groups that have launched thousands of rockets and attacks against Israeli civilians. Code Pink’s long-standing opposition to measures targeting the Iranian regime, combined with its focus on disrupting Western support for Israel, has drawn scrutiny over whether its activism advances the interests of governments that openly call for Israel’s destruction.

Benjamin has previously deflected questions about her Iran contacts, insisting her group supports “people, not governments.” The Telegraph’s reporting, however, documents sustained engagement with figures and organizations later designated for facilitating IRGC intelligence activities. For Israel’s supporters, the pattern reinforces concerns that some Western “peace” activists function as amplifiers for regimes that reject Israel’s right to exist and defend itself.