Iranian-American Official at U.S. State Department Dismissed
The English section of webangah News Agency reports, citing Mehr News Agency and Anadolu, that The Washington Post revealed the U.S. State Department dismissed Zahid Qureshi, its senior press officer, due to his criticism of President Donald Trump’s management policies toward Gaza.
According to The Washington Post, Qureshi’s firing followed his opposition to how the Trump administration framed controversial plans involving the displacement of hundreds of thousands of Palestinians from Gaza-plans widely criticized as amounting to ethnic cleansing.
The newspaper added that Qureshi had drafted a statement explicitly denying U.S. support for forcibly displacing Palestinians from Gaza. Documents obtained by The washington Post show that State Department officials instructed the press service to remove a line marked in red from this draft.
Qureshi told The Washington Post that he received no explanation from the State Department regarding his dismissal and emphasized that his tone reflected previous statements by Trump administration officials,including Special Envoy Steve Wisekoff’s February remarks denying any “evacuation plan” for Gaza.
The report identifies David Milstein, senior advisor to Mike Huckabee-the U.S. ambassador in Tel Aviv-as one of Qureshi’s staunch opponents within the State Department. Sources familiar with internal affairs told The Washington Post Milstein frequently clashed with department staff while supporting Israeli cabinet positions and sought to expand his influence beyond official responsibilities.
Tamy Pigott, deputy spokesperson for the State Department, responded to Anadolu by stating: “We do not comment on leaked emails or allegations.”
Yesterday, Qureshi also faced attacks from Laura Loomer, a far-right figure who accused him of insufficiently supporting Trump administration Middle East policies.
