Arrest of “an Israeli spy and several other spies” in East Azerbaijan

An Iranian intelligence ministry official says several people were arrested in East Azerbaijan on espionage charges last year. He did not specify the number of detainees or the exact dates of the arrests, but said one of them was spying for Israel.

Iranian news agencies reported on Monday, April 6, citing the Director General of Intelligence of East Azerbaijan Province, that last year, intelligence agents succeeded in identifying and arresting several spies associated with "security services of various countries" in the province.

Some sources have identified one of the arrested as an Israeli spy, and others, such as the Tasnim news agency, as an “Israeli spy.” The senior intelligence ministry official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, did not provide further details about the arrests.

A press conference was held by the Director General of Intelligence of East Azerbaijan on the occasion of the week of the “Unknown Soldiers of Imam Zaman.” This is the title used for the security agents of the Islamic Republic.

Exactly one year ago, the Israeli Intelligence and Internal Security Agency (Shin Bet) announced in a statement that a 50-year-old Israeli citizen had been arrested on charges of spying for the Islamic Republic.

The Shin Bet said the arrested individual had been in contact with Iranian agents abroad and had received money and encryption equipment from them. The individual was arrested in March and was indicted in court on April 7, 2020.

Iranian executed on espionage charges in Syria

In July of last year, a man named Mahmoud Mousavi Majd was executed in Iran on charges of spying for the Israeli and American intelligence services (Mossad and CIA).

The Islamic Republic's judiciary has accused Mousavi Majd, who resided in Syria, of providing information about Iranian military personnel in Syria and its supported forces to foreign intelligence services.

In recent years, the Islamic Republic's security and intelligence agencies have increasingly reported the arrest of individuals accused of having ties to foreign spy services, especially Israel, but not much news is typically published about their trials.

The Islamic Republic has also repeatedly blamed Israel-linked elements for sabotaging nuclear facilities and killing people it calls "nuclear scientists."

Scandal of forced confessions from those accused of espionage

In 2012, the Ministry of Intelligence of the Islamic Republic arrested several people, including Maziar Ebrahimi, on charges of involvement in the "terror of nuclear scientists," and some time later, a film of the television confessions of some of these defendants was broadcast.

Ebrahimi was released two years later after proving his innocence and confessing under torture. In 2019, after leaving Iran, he revealed the torture and pressure that had forced him to make a false confession.

Despite this scandal, occasional claims by Islamic Republic officials about "arresting spies" have continued, although in most cases, either further details about these claims have not been published or, as in the case of Ebrahimi, there are serious doubts about the veracity of the allegations.

The Ministry of Intelligence and its “amazing” devices

Mahmoud Alavi, the Minister of Intelligence of the 12th government, admitted two years ago that the "enemy's proximity to internal elements" in the Islamic Republic has never been as close as it is today, and claimed that officials were "surprised" upon receiving reports of the "discovery" of some spies.

One of the most recent operations that Islamic Republic officials attribute to Israel and its agents in Iran is the killing of Mohsen Fakhrizadeh, a key figure behind the country's nuclear and military programs.

On December 27th of last year, near Absard Damavand, a short distance from the capital, while his bodyguards were accompanying him in two cars, Fakhrizadeh was targeted by gunfire that had been planted in his path and was controlled remotely.

A few days after the incident, government spokesman Ali Rabiei announced on a television program: "The Ministry of Intelligence, through its efforts, had noticed some movements and had almost gained control over the area. The Ministry of Intelligence has identified those who had brought equipment and used technologies."

The Ministry of Intelligence, which claimed to have previously warned the security team about this operation and even its exact location, claimed in a short statement on December 9 that "the intelligence activities of the Unknown Soldiers of the Imam of the Time have yielded clues about the perpetrators of this terrorist attack," and that additional information about it "will subsequently be brought to the attention of the honorable nation."

Four months after this promise, no meaningful explanation has been provided about these "intelligence operations" and the leads allegedly obtained.

Source: DW