Documentation in the New York Times: Iran scholars

Look at this sentence:  "Iran scholars in the United States have said the suspected plot, while sounding far-fetched and amateurish, is not implausible. Ray Takeyh..."  How will you (if you are a college teacher) treat this sentence if it appears in a student's research paper?  Notice the logic: it moves from the plural (Iran scholars) to one person, Takeyh.  And notice that the paper does not mention that Takehy was a government official and worked at the Zionist Washington Institute for Near Policy and was an aide to Dennis Ross, to Dennis Ross, damn it.  In fact, the serious Iran scholars who are part of the Gary Sick's email group almost all dismissed the plot.