Turkey: Arrest of Gang Attempting to Abduct Islamic Republic Opponent

According to Turkish media reports, Turkey’s National Intelligence Organization has arrested 11 people linked to Iran who were planning to abduct an Islamic Republic opponent. The detainees include a prosecutor and military officers.

Turkey’s ODA (Oda) Television reported that the country’s National Intelligence Organization arrested 11 people linked to Iran’s Ministry of Intelligence who were planning to abduct an Islamic Republic opponent. The detainees include a prosecutor from the Anatolian court, the CEO of a defense company, retired colonels, and ranking officers of the air force.

According to the media outlet, the operation aimed to abduct and hand over a person named “Shahnam Golshani” to the Islamic Republic of Iran. The report stated that this person is an opponent of the Islamic Republic of Iran and has been living in the “Zonguldak” province for years.

Who is Shahnam Golshani?

According to Deutsche Welle Farsi, the identity of “Shahnam Golshani” mentioned by Turkish media is not confirmed. However, in recent years, a person with the same name was active and controversial in Iran’s foreign exchange market.

Shahnam Golshani was the editor-in-chief of the “Mesghaal” website, which gained attention in 2011 following market turmoil in Iran. On the fifteenth of Bahman in 2012, Mesghaal was filtered and user access was prohibited.

Two days later, the Mashriq news website reported Shahram (Shahnam) Golshani’s arrest and wrote: “The manager of a Bahai-affiliated website that played a significant role in inflating false prices of coins and foreign currency was arrested by security agencies.”

The Mashriq News website linked the editor of the Mesghaal website to Bahaism, while the editor-in-chief of Kayhan newspaper also discussed the role of Bahais in the foreign exchange market turmoil in an interview with FARS news agency.

Some websites close to Iran’s government reported in 2013 that a death sentence was issued against Shahnam Golshani in a primary court for “corruption on earth,” but this sentence was never confirmed by judicial authorities.

In the summer of 2014, Iranian media announced that Shahnam Golshani was released from prison and illegally migrated to Turkey.

Operation Details and Arrests

According to ODA’s report, a person named “Ali Ghahremani Hajiabad” was appointed by Iran’s Ministry of Intelligence to lead the operation. He came to Turkey shortly before and planned the operation.

Also mentioned as one of the key figures in the operation was an Iranian citizen named “Morteza Sultan Sanjali” who worked at the defense company “By Saglam.”

It is said that the owner of “By Saglam” is a person named “Ehsan Saglam,” who was the executor of the operation and reached an agreement with retired officers and ranking air force personnel and a former Chinese officer to carry out the operation.

By Saglam is a defense, security, and military services provider that offers unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), baggage scanning and packing devices, vehicle scanning systems, trackers and explosives, cargo aircraft, weapons, and military uniforms.

According to the report, “Davud Yilmaz,” the prosecutor of the “Kartal Anatolian” court, was also supposed to intervene in case of an unfavorable situation.

ODA Television reported that on February 19 (January 30), Morteza Sultan Sanjali went to Zonguldak to assess the final operational feasibility. However, Iran’s Ministry of Intelligence contacted him on the way and told him that he was being pursued and should immediately cancel the operation. However, Turkey’s National Intelligence Organization, which was aware of the operation, arrested him and the entire team, and they are now being interrogated at Istanbul’s counter-terrorism court branch.

Abduction of Opponents and Iran-Turkey Relations

Turkey and Iran have close economic relations but have stood against each other on some regional issues, including in Syria. The abduction of opposition members by Iranian agents on Turkish soil has been another factor of tension between the two countries.

Ammar Gholi, journalist and Middle East expert in Germany, told Deutsche Welle Farsi: “These types of Iranian intelligence operations in Turkey have a long history, and in the past two years alone, Turkish media have published reports three times about dismantling gangs linked to Iran. The case of Habib Asyoud, the case of Masoud Molavi’s assassination, and the case of abduction of a former pilot of Iran’s military forces are among the cases that have drawn media attention. However, in most cases, the Turkish government has not directly accused Iran and has merely pursued criminal cases against individuals linked to the Islamic Republic.”

Gholi continued: “Perhaps in the short term, exposing such operations may cause differences between the two countries, but the security, political, and commercial relations of the two countries will not be subject to change or crisis due to such operations.”

On September 24, 2021, Turkey’s National Intelligence Organization (MIT) and police also announced that in a joint operation in Van province, they arrested eight people, including “two Iranian spies” who intended to abduct and forcibly return “M.A.,” a former Iranian military official.

Also, last month, an Iranian consulate employee in Istanbul was arrested to investigate the assassination of an Islamic Republic opponent in the country in 2019.

Source: DW